SOCIAL media platforms that fail to adequately protect teenage users could be barred from serving anyone under 18 in Singapore, as the Government prepares to tighten age-verification and online safety requirements.
Singapore’s Minister for Information and Digital Development Josephine Teo said platforms would initially be allowed to propose their own systems for verifying users’ ages, but these would be assessed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for effectiveness.
The approach would go beyond the current minimum age of 13 imposed by most major social media platforms, which Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said was difficult to enforce because users could simply declare their age.
Wong highlighted growing concerns over problematic social media use among young people, saying one in six Singaporeans aged 10 to 24 shows signs of such behaviour.
Under the proposed rules, platforms would also have to strengthen safeguards around features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling, while improving controls over how teenagers interact with strangers online.
Platforms that fail or refuse to implement the required measures could see their minimum access age raised from 13 to 18.
“If a platform says it is unwilling to introduce it, it may no longer be accessible to users under 18, rather than just users under 13,” Teo said.
The Government plans to introduce legislative amendments in Parliament in early 2027 to give IMDA clearer powers to enforce the requirements against non-compliant platforms.
The initial age-verification regime is expected to cover six designated services regulated under Singapore’s Online Safety Code of Practice — Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, HardwareZone, X and YouTube.
The rules could subsequently be extended to other online services, including video-game platforms, messaging services and AI chatbot services.
Age verification can involve estimating a user's age through information such as biometrics, inferring an age range from usage patterns or checking an individual’s age against official records.
The proposed framework would shift greater responsibility to technology platforms, requiring them to demonstrate that their systems can effectively protect younger users rather than relying primarily on users to declare their ages.
For Singaporean families, the proposed changes could mean that access to some social media platforms for teenagers will depend not only on age but also on whether the platforms meet the Government’s safety requirements. - September 1, 2026
