Widespread Exposure to Harmful Online Content

A pair of recent surveys by Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) show that exposure to harmful online content among residents has reached very high levels. According to the Perceptions of Digitalisation Survey (Nov 2024–Feb 2025) and the Smart Nation Policy Perception Survey (Mar–May 2025), over 84% of Singapore residents aged 15 and above reported encountering harmful online content at least a few times a month.

Among forms of harmful content, those supporting illegal activities (such as scams or sale of prohibited items) were the most frequently encountered. Other common categories include sexual content, violent content, cyberbullying, and posts that stoke racial or religious tension.

Platforms Where Harmful Content is Most Seen

The surveys identified which platforms are most often associated with respondents’ encounters with harmful content:

• Social media platforms dominate. Facebook was named most often, followed by YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and HardwareZone.
• Messaging apps also feature: WhatsApp and Telegram were cited by respondents as places where they had come across such content.
• While “designated social media services” (platforms under regulatory oversight through Singapore’s Code of Practice for Online Safety) accounted for the bulk of harmful exposures, other platforms (messaging, news sites, gaming apps, etc.) accounted for a smaller but still significant share.

Trends & Year-on-Year Increases

Harmful content exposure is rising:

• In the 2023 poll, 65% of respondents reported encountering harmful content. In 2024, that rose to 74%.
• Exposure via designated social media services rose similarly: from 57% in 2023 to 66% in 2024.
• The increases are especially notable for content inciting racial or religious tension (up about 13 percentage points) and for violent content (up about 19 points) compared to the previous year.

What Users Are and Are Not Doing

Despite the high prevalence of harmful content, the surveys reveal that many users take little or no action when they encounter it.

• About 60%-61% of people who saw harmful content did nothing in response.
• Among those who did act: ~35% blocked the offending account or user, and ~27% reported the content to the platform.
• Many users who reported issues with the reporting process. The common complaints:
  1. Platforms didn’t remove the content or disable the offending account.
  2. Platforms took too long to act.
  3. Platforms didn’t provide updates on the outcome of reports.

Additional Harmful Behaviours & Risks

Beyond content exposure, the surveys also asked about more direct or personal experiences of online harm.

• Catfishing (using a fake identity to deceive someone, often in personal or romantic contexts) emerged as the most common harmful behaviour experienced. Among those who reported suffering harmful behaviours, 71% had experienced catfishing.
• Other forms of online harassment (unwanted sexual messages, identity theft, offensive remarks) also featured in respondents’ experiences.

Regulatory & Policy Responses

Singapore has put in place a series of laws, codes, and regulatory tools to address the rising problem of online harms.

• Code of Practice for Online Safety (for Social Media Services), which came into effect in July 2023, obliges designated platforms to adopt age-appropriate safety features, parental controls, and robust reporting mechanisms.
• Another code, the Code of Practice for App Distribution Services, is due to be applied to app stores. It mandates that app stores implement age assurances, preventing under-18 users from downloading apps meant for adults.
• Singapore is preparing to introduce the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill. This is intended to give victims better legal recourse and enforce platforms’ accountability over harmful content.

Public Sentiment & Calls for Stronger Laws

The surveys show strong public support for greater regulation to curb online harms.

• Around two in three Singapore residents support stronger laws protecting users against harmful online content, even if that could mean reduced freedoms online.
• Parents express concern: many feel underprepared to manage children’s online safety. Less than half feel confident guiding children’s digital habits. Barriers cited include lack of time, difficulty enforcing rules, limited knowledge of parental control tools.

What Remains Challenging

Despite the regulatory improvements and growing awareness, the survey results suggest significant gaps remain.

• Reporting tools and processes often fail users – whether because platforms are slow, unresponsive, or unwilling to remove harmful content.
• Many users don’t act not because they don’t care, but because they believe reporting won’t help. Some say they didn’t think it was necessary.
• Vulnerable groups, especially children, continue to be exposed. Parental tools are under-used, either due to lack of awareness, ease of bypassing controls, or belief that children can handle content themselves.

Implications & Next Steps

These findings carry implications for various stakeholders — regulators, platforms, schools, parents, and users.

• Platforms will likely face increasing pressure to streamline reporting mechanisms, ensure faster removal of harmful content, and offer better transparency about outcomes.
• Regulators may accelerate the passage of laws like the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill to give victims legal options and enforce platform accountability.
• Public education campaigns — teaching digital literacy, awareness of privacy tools, and how to respond when encountering harmful content — will be crucial to empower users.
• Parental support: Parents need better resources, clearer guidelines, and more effective tools to oversee children’s online interactions. Schools and communities may play a role in this.

Conclusion

The MDDI surveys paint a clear picture: harmful online content has become extremely common among Singapore residents, and more people are seeing such content now than in previous years. Yet many users remain passive in the face of harm, often due to doubts about whether reporting helps, or simply because they don’t know what to do.

Singapore’s regulatory framework has made progress, with codes of practice and proposed bills aiming to bring more accountability. But legislation alone won’t suffice. Platforms, public agencies, families, and individuals must work together — improving tools, awareness, user agency, and response effectiveness — to make the online environment safer.