COMMENT | Ensuring transparency in govt's social media removal requests

COMMENT | Recently, the issue of content moderation on social media platforms came under the spotlight, particularly surrounding government removal requests.

This followed allegations that the government had requested the removal of content unfavourable to it. In response, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said in Parliament that the government lacks the authority to do so.

For context, a government removal request is a submission by the government or a responsible authority to social media platforms to remove content. This is based on the content allegedly being in infringement of local laws.

In response, the platform will assess if the reported content is against its community guidelines and if it is, the content will be removed entirely.

However, if...