MCI's response to PQ on Social Media Platforms' Rules of Engagement for Online Advertisements

28 FEB 2024

Parliament Sitting on 28 February 2024

QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

*3. Ms Yeo Wan Ling: To ask 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.

Answer:

  1. Commercial advertising in Singapore is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) through the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP). 

  2. 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’s Guidelines on Interactive Marketing Communication and Social Media further sets 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.

  3. 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.