Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has been asked by the Singapore police to take drastic measures against online fraud or face colossal fines. The Facebook-parent firm is now forced to have anti-spam features on its platform and will be fined up to S$1 million in fine if the company fails to do so. Meta is yet to issue a statement on the matter.
The order, which is the first of its kind under the nation’s Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA), comes in response to an alarming rise in government official impersonation scams (GOIS). These scams have seen perpetrators create fraudulent advertisements, accounts, and business pages to deceive the public.
Singapore police issues a directive to Meta for anti-spam
According to official data, cases of GOIS nearly tripled in the first half of 2025, i.e., from 589 cases in the previous year to 1,762 cases. These scams have led to S$126.5 million in losses for victims, which is an 88 per cent increase from the previous year. Authorities have identified Facebook as the primary platform for these deceptive schemes, citing a need for “more decisive action” to protect citizens.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Goh Pei Ming, stated that the government’s action is a necessary escalation in the ongoing fight against scams.
“We are issuing the order to Meta because Facebook is the top platform used by scammers for such impersonation scams,” he said, highlighting the need to move beyond voluntary compliance. The OCHA, which came into force in February 2024, allows authorities to issue such directives to online service providers to combat scams and cybercrime.
This new legal provision marks a shift in Singapore’s regulatory approach, hinting at a move towards stricter enforcement with steep financial penalties.
Meta and Singapore relations strained due to scams
Scams have deteriorated the relations between Meta and the Singapore authorities. Government officials had previously criticised the company for not following their recommendations to implement user verification and secure payment options. The government even found that a third of all e-commerce scams in 2024 were reported on Facebook. It was found that Facebook Marketplace was found to have the weakest anti-scam features across six e-commerce platforms.
