New Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill Introduced in Parliament

On 15 October 2025, the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill (the “Bill”) was tabled in Parliament to enhance protection against online harms by establishing a dedicated regulatory authority and giving victims new rights to seek relief and obtain redress.

Establishment of a new Online Safety Commission and online harm reporting framework

The Bill will establish a new regulatory authority, the Online Safety Commission ("OSC"), by H1 2026 to administer the new framework which covers 13 categories of online harms, such as online harassment, doxxing, online stalking, intimate image and image-based child abuses. The OSC will have broad powers to deal with online harms, including powers to issue directions to take down content, restrict perpetrator accounts, or allow victim replies. Parties that must comply with the OSC’s directions include: communicators of harmful content, online administrators, online platforms, Internet access service providers (“ISPs”), and app distribution services.

Victims must generally first report harmful content to online platforms before seeking remedies from the OSC. Upon receiving a report, online platforms must take reasonable measures to address harmful content. However, certain categories of online harms that warrant urgent intervention, such as intimate image abuse and child abuse material, may be reported directly to the OSC. Non-compliance with OSC directions is a criminal offence, and the OSC may also order ISPs to block access to non-compliant online locations or order app distribution services to remove non-compliant apps. 

Statutory torts

The Bill will also introduce new statutory torts, whereby victims can seek Court remedies including compensatory damages and injunctions against the following parties if they fail to fulfil their statutory duties:

• Communicators must not communicate, publish and/or engage in any conduct relating to any specified online harm in Singapore.
• Administrators must not create, set up or administer an online location in a manner that facilitates or permits the conduct of any online harm, intending or knowing that harm would occur. An administrator must also take reasonable measures to address specified online harms at their online location upon receiving notice of such harm.
• Platforms must take reasonable measures to address specified online harms upon receiving notice of such harm. Certain platforms, such as those with greater reach, will be subject to additional requirements, for example, on the time taken to respond to user reports.

Enhancing traceability and accountability of communicators of online harms 

The OSC will be empowered to better ascertain the identity of communicators of online harms in order to hold them accountable. For example, the OSC can require platforms to disclose user identity information, and platforms with greater reach may be further asked to collect additional information from suspected perpetrators. Victims who have filed a report to the OSC may apply for disclosure of the perpetrator’s identity information to pursue civil claims, subject to conditions preventing misuse.

What’s next?

The Bill will be tabled for Second Reading at the next available Parliament sitting, before it is expected to be passed into law. We will provide a detailed analysis and practical guidance in due course.

This article is produced by our Singapore office, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP. It does not constitute legal advice and is intended to provide general information only. Information in this article is accurate as of 17 October 2025.