S'pore to extend age assurance to social media as Govt studies addictive features

Plans to extend age assurance requirements to social media platforms and a government study of addictive features — including direct messaging and autoplay — were announced in Parliament on 5 May 2026, as authorities signalled that restrictions on access to age-inappropriate services remained under active consideration.

The disclosures came in a consolidated written reply from Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, who addressed questions from several Members of Parliament raising concerns about child and adolescent online safety.

The reply also served as the written answer to an oral question from Workers' Party MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) on the subject, which had not been reached during question time on 5 May 2026.

Written questions for the same sitting were filed by People's Action Party (PAP) MP Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC), PAP MP Rachel Ong (Tanjong Pagar GRC), and Workers' Party MP Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik (Sengkang GRC). Josephine Teo noted that her reply would also cover questions filed for subsequent sittings by PAP MP Elysa Chen (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) and PAP MP Victor Lye (Ang Mo Kio GRC).

Ong had asked whether the government would review current regulations and consider further protective measures against harmful or addictive online content, citing reports that Meta and Google had been found liable in a social media addiction case in the United States. Abdul Muhaimin had sought mandatory daily usage time limits and restricted access hours for users under 14, citing China's Douyin platform as imposing a 40-minute daily cap and access between 6am and 10pm.

Louis Chua's unanswered oral question had gone further on the US dimension, asking whether MDDI had assessed the implications of a March 2026 US court verdict that found Meta and Alphabet liable for negligently designing platforms that caused addiction, and whether a timeline existed for restricting specific addictive design features — including infinite scroll.

Josephine Teo affirmed that the existing Code of Practice for Online Safety – Social Media Services "already requires Designated Social Media Services to put in place systems and processes to minimise users' exposure to harmful online content, especially younger users." She said the government shared members' concerns and was determined to go further.

The minister confirmed that MDDI would extend age assurance requirements to Designated Social Media Services, describing the measure as "a critical step in ensuring that Designated Social Media Services can identify young users and provide them with protective measures on their platforms." She added that the government would also consider similar safeguards for online gaming.

Beyond age assurance, the minister said MDDI was carefully studying platform features "such as direct messaging and autoplay, which can result in unwanted interactions with strangers or excessive use for children and adolescents."

The ministry was in active discussions with the Designated Social Media Services to outline expected standards, and would consult the public — including parents and youths — across different age groups to determine what safeguards were necessary and appropriate.

Josephine Teo said "the outcome of these engagements will shape our policy response, which may include restricting access to services with age-inappropriate features."

The minister did not provide the timeline for restricting specific addictive features that Louis Chua had sought, nor did she directly address whether MDDI had assessed the legal implications of the US negligence ruling against Meta and Alphabet.

Turning to complementary non-regulatory measures, the minister outlined a range of parenting and education initiatives already in place. The Ministry of Education has disallowed the use of smartphones and smartwatches during school hours — including Co-Curricular Activities — across primary and secondary schools. The Ministry of Health has updated its Guidance on Screen Use in Children aged below 12 years to provide parents with clearer and more actionable direction.

The Health Promotion Board, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Social and Family Development jointly developed the Parenting for Wellness toolkit to equip parents with skills for guiding children in the digital age. The Infocomm Media Development Authority has also launched resources on the Digital for Life portal, with content tailored to children's different developmental stages and key digital milestones.

The parliamentary debate reflects growing international attention on platform design liability. The US court's March 2026 ruling — which found Meta and Alphabet negligent in designing features that caused addiction in young users — has prompted advocates in multiple jurisdictions to call for feature-level regulation rather than reliance on content moderation alone.

Josephine Teo's reply does not indicate whether MDDI's ongoing review of features such as autoplay and direct messaging will extend to designs like infinite scroll, which Louis Chua had specifically named.