Ensuring Social Media Platforms' Rules of Engagement for Online Advertisements are In Line with Local Regulations

3 Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Minister for Communications and Information given that online advertisements on social media platforms are easily uploaded by individuals based on the social media platforms' rules of engagement, what are the safeguards that the Ministry has put in place to ensure that these rules of engagement are relevant and in line with local regulations and best practices.

The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for Communications and Information): Sir, commercial advertising in Singapore is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) through the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP).

The SCAP applies to all advertisements for any goods and services appearing in any form or any media, including on social media services. It stipulates that all advertisements should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. ASAS’ Guidelines on Interactive Marketing Communication and Social Media further set out the standards of ethical conduct that are to be adopted by marketers, advertising agencies or media that are involved in social media marketing. Marketers are also expected to familiarise themselves with the relevant laws and guidelines on each social media service. ASAS adopts a complaints-based approach in reviewing potential advertising breaches when reported to them and can get advertisers to amend or withdraw advertisements that are deemed to have breached the Guidelines or SCAP.

Designated social media services with significant reach or impact are also required under the Code of Practice for Online Safety issued by the Infocomm Media Development Authority to minimise users’ exposure to harmful content. This includes putting in place specific measures to protect children, such as ensuring that children do not receive targeted advertisements detrimental to their physical or mental well-being. The designated social media services are Facebook, HardwareZone, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube.

Mr Speaker: Ms Yeo.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): It has been observed that the process is much easier for individuals and companies to put up their advertisements on social media platforms, given that many of such platforms encourage boosting or ad buying proactively to their users. It is unclear what these social media platforms do to verify the content of these ads. In a recent case, a water purification company made certain arguably uninformed claims about the safety of Singapore tap water. The Public Utilities Board has since issued advisories for that. There has been other cases of companies who have also done similar things.

Are there regular proactive dialogues the Ministry of Communications and Information holds with these popular social media platforms on their ad rules and what more can be done to advise companies and individuals on responsible advertising claims? Can we work on a local advisory notice embedded on social media platforms before and ad is triggered?

Mr Tan Kiat How: As I mentioned earlier my main reply, commercial advertising in Singapore, like the one that Ms Yeo had referred to, is regulated by the ASAS and the ASAS is established under the Consumer Association of Singapore.

At the heart of matter that Ms Yeo had raised is whether the advertisement meets the threshold or stipulation that is legal, decent, honest and truthful, and whether the parties like the marketeers, the advertisers and the media involved in displaying, presenting or putting in place the advertisements, meet the standards of ethical behaviour, ethical conduct. These are all the guidelines stimulated by the advertising council.

So, what is the recourse if somebody believes that an advertisement breaches some of these stipulations or code of ethical conduct? ASAS takes a complaints approach. When ASAS receives the complaint, it will first advise the advertiser to amend the advertisement. There are direct financial costs to such amendments. Sometimes, they are reputational costs because of the publicity given to the advertisement. Therefore, making a false or misleading claim about products and services may also constitute an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, or CPFTA.

Recalcitrant companies could be referred to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore, or CCCS, for investigation. And errant companies may be issued injunction orders by the Court. If a company under injunction does not comply with the injunction order, CCCS can take the advertiser to court for contempt of court, which is a criminal offence that could result in a fine or imprisonment.