The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act will come into full force when provisions to counteract foreign interference via local proxies take effect on Dec 29 this year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Tuesday (Dec 12) that the latest provisions against local proxies under the Act will require “politically significant persons” to follow a list of stringent rules.

Politically significant persons are defined as those directly involved in Singapore’s political processes, comprising political parties, political office holders, Members of Parliament, Central Executive Committee members of political parties, and election candidates and their election agents.

Under the provisions, these persons are prohibited from accepting any voluntary labour or voluntary professional services provided by any individual who is not a citizen of Singapore.

They must also disclose their affiliations with any "foreign principal", which is an authority of the government of a foreign country.

They are also forbidden from receiving anonymous donations of S$5,000 or more in a calendar year, and are required to report single donations of S$10,000 or more from permissible donors.

This comes after provisions tackling hostile information campaigns were first implemented in July 2022 — which allowed authorities the power to block websites and social media accounts engaged in hostile campaigns, restrict the distribution of mobile applications within Singapore and stop the funding of such content.

OTHER COUNTERMEASURES

All Singapore citizens will have to declare that they are members of foreign political or legislative bodies, according to the Act.

Those who are in such bodies before Feb 1, 2024 will have to declare their involvement by March 1, 2024. Thereafter, Singapore citizens who join these organisations after Feb 1 will have to declare their involvement within one month of joining said organisation, said MHA.

This is to safeguard against the risk of foreign states attempting to cultivate citizens to influence our domestic politics, the ministry added.

The authority can also issue a “transparency directive” to any licensed newspaper or media outlet to disclose the particulars of any foreign author and foreign principal for whom or at whose direction the article or programme is published.

This is aimed at addressing situations where foreign writers masquerade as local writers penning articles relating to Singaporean political matters, and seek to influence public opinion, the ministry added.

Apart from this, the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act also allows the Minister for Home Affairs to appoint a “competent authority” to designate individuals and organisations as politically significant persons under several conditions.

Individuals may, for example, be deemed as politically significant persons if their activities are deemed by the authority to be directed towards a political end, or if the authority assesses that it is in the public interest that countermeasures against foreign interference be applied.

Those who are designated as politically significant persons via this route only need to disclose political donations and foreign affiliations, unless the authority assesses there to be a higher risk of foreign interference.

The countermeasures act on foreign interference was first passed in Parliament in October 2021 to strengthen the Government’s ability to prevent, detect, and disrupt foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics.

The law was passed with 75 voting for it and 11 against, with two Nominated MPs abstaining. All 10 Workers' Party MPs and the Progress Singapore Party's Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai voted against it.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by RENALD LOH

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