The Singapore police have directed Meta to widen its efforts to curb impersonation scams on Facebook, extending safeguards to cover more government office holders and individuals deemed to be at high risk of impersonation.
In a statement on Thursday, January 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the police issued a second implementation directive to Meta under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) earlier this week. The move follows an earlier directive issued last year, which required Meta to introduce measures such as facial recognition to tackle scams involving the impersonation of key government office holders.
Since the first directive was implemented, the police have observed a decline in Facebook scams involving impersonation of those officials covered under the initial order. However, MHA said scammers have since shifted tactics, targeting people who were not included in the first directive.
Under the latest order, Meta is required to implement enhanced facial recognition measures in Singapore and to prioritise the review of scam-related reports submitted by users here.
These measures are aimed at reducing scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages that impersonate government office holders not previously covered, as well as individuals assessed by the police to be at high risk of impersonation.
MHA said this includes cases where police reports have already been lodged by victims of impersonation. Meta must comply with measures relating to government office holders by January 31, while measures covering high-risk individuals must be in place by February 28.
The directive also requires Meta to roll out facial recognition measures for notable Facebook users in Singapore in phases, with full implementation to be completed by June 30.
If Meta fails to comply with the directive without reasonable excuse, it may be fined up to S$1 million. For a continuing offence, the company could also face an additional fine of up to S$100,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.
