Singapore: Government continues its crackdown on anti-death penalty activism and other forms of expression

Singapore’s civic space rating remained as ‘repressed’ in the CIVICUS Monitor’s People Power under Attack report published in December 2024. There are ongoing concerns about the use of restrictive laws as well as the harassment of human rights defenders. The 2019 Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) provides excessive powers to the government and has been used to target activists and critics, and block websites, while there are ongoing restrictions on peaceful assembly under the 2009 Public Order Act (POA).

In October 2024, Freedom House released its annual Freedom in the World report, which evaluates access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories. According to the report, Singapore is classified as “partly free” and the country’s "electoral and legal framework" is restricting the development of opposition parties and limiting freedoms of expression, assembly and association.

In January 2025, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its annual report and highlighted that the government had harassed, intimidated and persecuted civil society activists and independent media practitioners in the lead-up to presidential elections in September 2024, which saw the election of Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, to the largely ceremonial post.

In recent months, the authorities have continued to deploy POFMA to target a civil society group opposing Singapore’s death penalty, as well as a regional anti-death penalty network. A series of correction directions were aimed at media outlets around their reporting on the death penalty and the secrecy around the purchase of mansions. An academic site was blocked due to an article on the Prime Minister while a Palestine memorial by students is being investigated. A film was banned from a film festival and there are concerns around the impact of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill on expression. An activist Jolovan Wham has been charged for taking part in anti-death penalty vigils.

Expression

Civil society group suspends operation of website and social media accounts following POFMA order

On 20th December 2024, Singapore's Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) declared the website and social media accounts of Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), a civil society group opposing Singapore’s death penalty, as a "Declared Online Location" (DOL) under Section 32 of POFMA.

As a result, operators of TJC’s online platforms will be barred from receiving financial or other material benefits through its website and social media pages. This designation lasts for two years, the maximum period that can be prescribed in the law.

The case arose after the advocacy group received its third POFMA correction direction on 5th October 2024. The Ministry of Digital Development and Information stated that the restrictions were imposed due to 'misinformation' disseminated by the anti-death penalty group on its online platforms. The order requires TJC to post a warning about "multiple falsehoods on their platforms and that viewers should exercise caution when accessing it for information”. It further states that TJC is barred from receiving any financial or material benefits starting from the next day.

Following the declaration of the DOL, on 21st January 2024, the TCJ decided to temporarily suspend the operation of their website and social media accounts. The group said that “being DOL-ed means that TJC and its members can face criminal liabilities under POFMA for any work that goes towards operating and maintaining its website and social media, as well as for work that is published on our website and social media. Additionally, it also criminalises donors for supporting our work in respect of content that is published on the DOL-ed sites.”

The group noted that: “TJC’s reportage on executions, death penalty cases, drug policy, issues surrounding policing, prisons, courts and other systems of oppression is something we know many of you value, and we are proud of the work we have done to this end." It added that “despite the significant challenges brought by temporarily ceasing operation of the DOLs, the Transformative Justice Collective will not stop fighting for a freer and more just Singapore, albeit on different platforms.”

On 16th January 2025, 11 civil society organisations including CIVICUS condemned in the strongest terms the latest restrictions imposed by the Singapore government on activists from TJC, saying that: “These orders are an undue restriction on the right to freedom of expression, create a climate of fear and have the effect of stifling debates on the human rights concerns surrounding the use of the death penalty in Singapore.”

On 27th January 2024, three TJC members, Kokila Annamalai, Rocky Howe and Sobikun Nahar, were summoned for investigations under Section 7 of POFMA in relation to posts they had already received POFMA directions for and complied with.

Regional anti-death penalty network targeted by POFMA correction order

On 9th October 2024, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN), an organisation advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in the Asia-Pacific region, received a correction order under POFMA.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that ADPAN made false claims in its posts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn published on 3rd October 2024, alleging that the government carries out executions without proper legal process. The MHA also noted that ADPAN falsely accused the government of targeting, silencing and harassing the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) and other individuals who speak out against the death penalty.

Civil society groups say they are gravely concerned at the "continued intimidation and climate of fear that the Singapore authorities have created around anti-death penalty activism through POFMA orders." The orders targeting those who criticise the handling of death penalty cases in Singapore "have the broader effect of curtailing the right to freedom of expression and human rights activism in the country and of preventing fully informed debates on the ongoing use of the death penalty and other matters of public policy.'"

Series of correction orders aimed at media outlets

A number of media outlets were also targeted by POFMA correction orders in December 2024.

On 16th December 2024, The Online Citizen (TOC), an independent news site, was ordered to insert a correction notice on an article published on its website on 22nd November 2024, that alleged that the state suppressed dissenting views on the death penalty through POFMA Correction Directions. On 17th December 2024, TOC complied by adding the correction notice to both the article on its website and its social media posts on Facebook and Instagram.

On 23rd December 2024, the government issued a POFMA correction direction to Bloomberg, along with The Edge Singapore, The Independent Singapore, and The Online Citizen. The correction relates to articles and posts about Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions. The article highlights how mansion deals in Singapore are increasingly shrouded in secrecy and that more people are buying homes with trusts, hiding the owners’ identities.

The issue stemmed from Bloomberg's article, Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy, published on 12th December 2024, which was reposted on its social media platforms. The same article was republished by The Edge Singapore and shared on its social media platforms, while The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen also published commentaries based on Bloomberg's article.

All four publications were required to carry correction notices stating that the articles and posts contained false statements and to link to the government’s clarification. Following the notice, Bloomberg added the correction notice to its article and social media posts on Facebook and X but stated that it “respectfully disagrees with it and reserves its right to appeal and challenge the Correction Direction.” The Edge Singapore posted the correction on its website and social media, while The Independent Singapore shared it on its website and Facebook.

Academic site blocked due to article on Prime Minister

On 24th January 2025, internet service providers in Singapore were instructed to block access to the Australia-based academic website East Asia Forum due to its failure to comply with a correction direction issued two days earlier. The directive required the platform to add a correction notice at the top of an article titled "Singapore’s New Prime Minister Entangled in Old Politics," published in January 2025, and share it across their social media platforms, along with a link to the government’s correction on its fact-checking site, Factually. The article highlights the various controversies that PM Lawrence Wong has had to deal with in 2024.

The block will remain in place until East Asia Forum meets the requirements of the correction direction. The article, according to the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Prime Minister’s Office, contains false information about Singaporean governance.

As previously documented, this marks the second time Singapore has blocked access to the East Asia Forum under a POFMA order. The first instance occurred in September 2023, for an article criticising the lack of independence of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's approach to addressing extramarital affairs among parliamentarians. The authority unblocked the website after a public apology was made by the writer.

Activist refuses to comply with correction order under POFMA

Kokila Annamalai, a prominent with the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), who has spent years supporting death row inmates and their families in their fight against execution, refused to comply with a government order to publish a correction under POFMA to her social media post criticising the authorities' handling of the execution of a death row inmate. The correction direction was issued on 5th October 2024.

Annamalai is believed to be the first person in Singapore to defy the country's online misinformation law, a stance that could result in jail time. After her refusal, on 11th October 2024, the POFMA Office directed Meta Platforms and X to display a correction notice, and the Ministry of Home Affairs launched an investigation into her non-compliance, with potential penalties of a fine of up to $20,000 and up to 12 months in prison.

Annamalai has faced multiple police investigations, and even a criminal charge, for taking part in peaceful protests over the years. Her group, Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), has also faced systematic harassment for their activism.

On 22nd October 2024, in solidarity with Annamalai, 33 individuals - activists, workers, and ordinary people - launched a campaign under the hashtag #idefypofma. They expressed their belief that the government had misused POFMA to suppress criticism and alternative viewpoints, aligning with Annamalai's stance against the overreach.

Palestine memorial by students being investigated

Police said on 16th January 2025 that they were investigating after a memorial in solidarity with Palestine and the serious crimes committed by Israel was held at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

On 13th January 2025, a group of students and alumni identifying themselves as Students For Palestine Singapore held a protest at NUS. The demonstration featured 124 pairs of shoes and a white burial shroud placed outside the CREATE research building at NUS, which houses the Singapore-Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Education.

In a statement, the group expressed their grief for the Palestinian student martyrs, many of whom should still be alive today, pursuing their education and contributing to their communities. The group also called for local universities to sever ties with Israeli institutions.

A spokesperson for NUS stated that the protest was not authorised. Under the draconian Public Order Act 2009, organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is considered an offence.

Film banned from festival

In November 2024, a film that references a local court case about a communist leader’s tombstone was barred after the authorities deemed it potentially illegal and “likely to be prejudicial to national interests”. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) refused classification of the docu-drama, which meant it could not be screened in public or distributed.

The film draws from the real 1980s prosecution of Tan Chu Boon over revolutionary inscriptions on the grave of his brother Tan Chay Wa, including a Chinese poem the communist wrote just before his execution. Tan Chay Wa – a senior official of the Malayan National Liberation Front, an arm of the Communist Party of Malaya – fled to Malaysia in 1976 as Singapore cracked down on communists. He was arrested there and sentenced to death for possession of a pistol and ammunition. He was hanged in 1983 and his body brought back to Singapore for burial. His brother Tan Chu Boon, who had arranged for his tombstone to be engraved, was jailed over the subversive headstone.

Singaporean director Daniel Hui’s ‘Small Hours Of The Night’ was pulled from screening at the 35th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) – the nation’s largest annual film festival – where it had been slated for its local premiere. The festival ran from 28th November to 8th December 2024.

Hui said: “As the director of this film, the irony does not escape me that a film about censorship is itself being censored. I am of course very disappointed that people all around the world can see this film, but not in Singapore. However, I remain hopeful that one day we will have a discursive space in Singapore that is gracious and generous enough to include diverse voices and points of view.”

In Singapore, the right to the freedom of expression is drastically subverted by a highly restrictive legal and regulatory regime and media censorship.

Concerns around impact of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill on expression

On 7th January 2025, Singapore officially introduced the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill designed to protect racial harmony, including measures like restraining orders and community-focused remedial programmes. The law allows the Minister for Home Affairs to issue restraining orders (ROs) against individuals or organisations responsible for creating or sharing content that threatens racial harmony.

However, there are concerns about the bill’s potential impact on freedom of expression and public discourse concerning racial issues and the vague and overly broad provisions that could disproportionately criminalise minorities discussing race and racism

Further, Restraining Orders allowing pre-emptive government action without proving criminal conduct can prohibit individuals or entities from communicating or distributing specified information or material to designated audiences on specific subjects.

Peaceful Assembly

Activist charged for taking part in anti-death penalty vigils

Activist Jolovan Wham was charged on 3rd February 2025 for taking part in five candlelight vigils for prison inmates on death row.

The vigils were held between March 2022 and April 2023 for individuals convicted for drug trafficking who were to be executed.

Jolovan was handed five charges under the 2009 Public Order Act for allegedly attending public assemblies that were held without permits. Three of these vigils were held in the vicinity of Changi Prison. He also allegedly attended candlelight vigils near a bus stop opposite Changi Women’s Prison on 29th March 2022, and at a playground near Mariam Walk on 27th April the same year.

Singapore laws on holding protests are extremely restrictive. The 2009 Public Order Act (POA) requires a police permit for any gathering or meeting of one or more people intending to demonstrate for or against a group or government, publicise a cause or campaign, or mark or commemorate any event. The only outdoor venue in which an assembly may be held without a police permit is Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park. The law covers not only outdoor gatherings, but also those held indoors if they are in a place open to the public, or if the public is invited.

Spanish couple detained and warned for protest

On 10th October 2024, a Spanish couple were detained, and their passports were impounded for displaying a protest banner against Peter Lim, the billionaire Singaporean owner of the Spanish football club Valencia.

The man posted photos on social media of himself holding a sign reading "Lim go home" at various locations, such as Merlion Park, a major tourist landmark, and near the residences where the billionaire is said to live.

Subsequently, the authorities issued a stern warning to the couple regarding the offences of participating in a public assembly without a permit under the Public Order Act 2009 and of posting notices in violation of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906.