Monitoring Foreign Interference and Steps Taken to Educate Public
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the government’s efforts to monitor and address foreign interference, as raised by Dr Wan Rizal regarding intervention success rates and public education initiatives. Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam replied that legislative levers like the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act and Internal Security Act are used to counter such threats. He explained that while operational statistics are not disclosed, a discerning public remains the ultimate line of defence against foreign interference. To build resilience, the government conducts information literacy programs such as the National Library Board’s S.U.R.E 2.0 campaign to help citizens assess information reliability. Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs organizes workshops and briefings for public servants, students, and National Servicemen to raise awareness about the risks of foreign interference.
Transcript
7 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how does the Ministry monitor and address instances of foreign interference; (b) what is the success rate of these interventions; and (c) what steps are being taken to educate the public and political entities about the risks and signs of foreign interference and how they can protect themselves against such threats.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Government has frameworks in place to monitor for and minimise the risk of foreign interference and to counter the threats we detect. These include legislative levers, such as the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act and Internal Security Act. For operational reasons, the Government does not disclose details or statistics.
The ultimate line of defence against foreign interference, however, must be an aware and discerning populace, as the Member mentioned. To this end, the Government has embarked on information literacy campaigns and public education. These include, the National Library Board's S.U.R.E 2.0 campaign, which stands for Source, Understand, Research and Evaluate. The campaign aims to impart critical skills to help Singaporeans better assess the reliability of information.
The Government also regularly conducts briefings, dialogues and workshops to raise awareness on foreign interference. Audiences at these outreach efforts include public servants, full-time National Servicemen and students. The Ministry of Home Affairs will continue to work with agencies to engage the public about the threat posed by foreign interference.