The Online Criminal Harms Act (“OCHA“), which was passed in Parliament on 5 July 2023, has partially come into force on 1 February 2024, with remaining measures slated to come into effect at a later stage. The OCHA introduces measures to enable the Government to deal with online activities that are criminal in nature.
The measures that have come into force include the following:
(a) Directions. Directions can be issued to online services where there is a reasonable suspicion that an online activity is in furtherance of the commission of a specified offence, scam or malicious cyber activity. This includes the following:
- Stop Communication Direction to stop communicating specified online content;
- Disabling Direction to disable specified content on a service;
- Account Restriction Direction to stop an account on their service from communicating in Singapore;
- Access Blocking Direction to block access to an online location; and
- App Removal Direction to remove an app from a Singapore storefront.
(b) Orders. If an online service does not comply with the above directions, orders may be issued to restrict access to the service.
(c) Powers to Require Information. Designated authorities may require persons to provide any information necessary for the administration of the OCHA and to facilitate investigations and criminal proceedings.
The OCHA also contains provisions for the issuance of codes of practice to designated online services to counter scams and malicious cyber activities, as well as directives to rectify any non-compliance. These provisions will come into force further down the line.
For more information, click here to read our earlier Legal Update on the OCHA being passed in Parliament.
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