It was the first time the Ministry of Home Affairs gave orders under the Fica to block these accounts from Singapore-based users. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: Ninety-five social media accounts that published posts alleging Singapore was being controlled by China have gone offline in the city-state, after the authorities on Friday (July 19) directed five platforms to block them.
A check on Saturday (July 20) by The Straits Times on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X – formerly known as Twitter – revealed that previously uploaded posts pushing these allegations were unavailable, and that the accounts behind them had been suspended or terminated.
It was the first time the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) gave orders under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (Fica) to block these accounts from Singapore-based users.
The posts by the accounts were linked to Guo Wengui – a self-exiled Chinese businessman, Communist Party of China (CPC) critic and convicted fraudster.
They put forward the claim that China was involved in the selection of Singapore’s fourth-generation leader.
Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, Miles Guo, and Miles Kwok, was convicted in the United States on July 16 over stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from online followers.
He was convicted on nine of the 12 criminal counts faced, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud, in a trial that lasted seven weeks.
YouTube terminated or blocked four accounts flagged.
After a thorough review, the video-sharing platform blocked two channels – 善念起善缘 and 新加坡狮城农场 Himalaya SG – in Singapore.
Another account – “wen great channel” – was terminated for violating its policies on spam, deceptive practices and scams, and a fourth account, 八九六四666, was terminated for circumventing its terms of service, according to YouTube.
The platform has clear policies for removal requests from governments around the world, and misleading or deceptive content with serious risk of egregious harm is not allowed.
This includes misinformation that can cause real-world harm, such as promoting harmful remedies or treatments, certain types of technically manipulated content, or content interfering with democratic processes.
In the first quarter of 2024, YouTube removed more than 117,000 videos for violating these policies.
TikTok confirmed that it has complied with the directive by restricting the account for users in Singapore, and said that it continuously works to detect and disrupt covert influence operations that try to establish themselves on its platform.
In the first six months of 2024, TikTok removed almost 24,000 accounts associated with previously disrupted networks attempting to re-establish their presence.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has reviewed the identified accounts and taken action by removing them for violations of its policies on inauthentic behaviour, ST understands.
ST has contacted X for comment.
MHA said on July 19 that there were grounds to believe that the network of accounts can and may be used to mount hostile information campaigns that are directly targeted at Singapore.
The ministry said it had directed Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X to block these accounts under Fica, a law that empowers the authorities to deal with covert attempts by hostile foreign entities to interfere in domestic politics.
Between April 17 and May 10, the now-suspended accounts published more than 120 posts containing videos on Singapore’s leadership transition.
They appeared after the Prime Minister’s Office announced on April 15 that then Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong would take over as prime minister on May 15.
The posts included statements like “Singapore is in the CCP’s back pocket”, accompanied by videos of Guo speaking in Mandarin or occasionally using automated voice-overs in English. CCP is another abbreviation for the CPC.
Through its regular monitoring, MHA detected the network of accounts, and of the 95 accounts, 92 were found to be directly linked to Guo and organisations affiliated with him – the New Federal State of China and the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation.
The remaining three belong to a Singapore chapter of the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation known as Himalaya Singapore, MHA said. - The Straits Times/ANN
