Singapore orders social media sites to block accounts linked to exiled Chinese businessman

The move marked the first time the law has been invoked by the city state to issue directions to social media providers.

In February, it was used to designate businessman Philip Chan Man Ping, 59, as a “politically significant person” after the naturalised citizen was found by the authorities to have urged the Chinese diaspora to tell “China’s story”.

While observers note Singapore’s authorities have been swift to draw “a red line” against foreign interference, the multiracial city state is susceptible to online foreign influence, particularly regarding pro- or anti-China media content.

Among the 4.15 million resident population in Singapore about three-quarters are Chinese, 13.5 per cent are Malays and 9 per cent Indians. The resident population comprises citizens and permanent residents.

The ministry said that between April 17 and May 10, 92 of these accounts published more than 120 posts containing videos on Singapore’s leadership transition “in a coordinated manner”.

The posts alleged that Singapore was “in the pocket of a foreign actor”, and that the “foreign actor” was involved in the selection of Singapore’s fourth-generation leader “behind the scenes”, the ministry added. Singapore’s fourth Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was sworn in on May 15, taking over the reins from now-Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who said Wong was chosen by his peers within the ruling People’s Action Party as the country’s leader.

Investigations found that the network of 92 accounts were linked to Guo and his affiliated organisations, the New Federal State of China and the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation. The other three accounts belong to a Singapore chapter under the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation.

The New Federal State of China is a