Today-July 6
The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (Fica) will come into effect in parts, with the provisions tackling hostile information campaigns taking effect from Thursday (July 7), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Wednesday. The legal provisions targeting foreign interference via local proxies will come into force at a later stage. Under Fica, which was passed in Parliament last October, the Government will be given stronger powers to detect and counter hostile information campaigns — coordinated operations by “hostile foreign principals” that interfere in Singapore’s politics and incite social tensions. It allows the authorities to issue directives to social media platforms, websites and other online services to investigate and counter foreign interference. These powers include blocking websites or social media accounts involved in such hostile campaigns, preventing the distribution of mobile applications in Singapore, and crippling the funding sources of such content. Another prong of the new law, which will take effect at a later stage, allows the authorities to target local proxies such as politicians, political parties or other “politically significant persons”. When it comes into force, the Government will be able to designate people and organizations that may become targets of a foreign influence operation. This means that they will be required to disclose their funding sources regularly and provide specific information to aid authorities in detecting these operations. The powers under both prongs are vested in the Minister for Home Affairs. Read more at: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/foreign-interference-law-come-force-july-7-measures-against-local-proxies-take-effect-later-1936241
