Singapore Orders Meta to Tackle Surge in Facebook Impersonation Scams

Singapore has issued its first-ever Implementation Directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act, mandating Meta to implement security measures to combat a significant rise in Facebook impersonation scams targeting government officials. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Singapore Police Force noted a sharp increase in scam advertisements, fake profiles, and business pages using videos and images of key government office holders between June 2024 and June 2025. Meta must comply by the end of September 2025 or face fines up to S$1 million, with additional daily penalties of S$100,000 for continued non-compliance. Despite Meta's claims of having systems to detect and remove counterfeit accounts and advertisements, authorities remain concerned about the prevalence of such scams in Singapore. The directive highlights increasing regulatory pressure in Asia on platforms to take responsibility for online criminal activities, with possible extensions of similar requirements to other online platforms expected. Singapore's efforts aim to preserve public trust and safety by cracking down on impersonation fraud that exploits social media.