enhance version- Protection from Harassment Act (POHA).

[AngryBirdBird]

SINGAPORE: The act of “doxxing”, which involves the publishing of someone’s personal information such as their photos, contact numbers or employment details with the intention to harass, will be criminalised under proposed changes to the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA).

The amendments, which were tabled in Parliament on Monday (Apr 1), are meant to enhance protection for victims of harassment and falsehoods, and to make it easier for victims to obtain remedies.

The act was enacted in 2014 to provide a range of criminal and civil remedies against harassment, and civil remedies for false statements of facts. Since it came into force in November 2014, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) says many people have benefitted from the civil and criminal measures it provides, with more than 1,700 prosecutions and over 3,000 Magistrate’s Complaints filed.

More than 500 people have stepped forward to make applications for Protection Orders.

However, MinLaw added that it has received feedback from those who have relied on remedies under POHA that the court processes can be further streamlined and simplified. Additionally, new social trends, such as sharing people’s personal information so as to harass them online, and the viral spread of falsehoods to harm individuals, have emerged over the last few years.

INCREASING TREND OF “DOXXING”, ONLINE VIGILANTISM

MinLaw said that there has been an increasing trend in recent years of an individual’s personal information being consolidated and published online, with a view to harassing the person. Often, it said, this arises in the context of online vigilantism.

One recent example of such online vigilantism was a dispute involving a Go-Jek driver and his passenger, which was recorded and posted online. In the video, the passenger could be heard accusing the driver of trying to “cheat” her after he took a route that passed an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry and required her to pay a fee.

The video went viral online, with netizens reacting with outrage at the passenger, some of whom named and shamed her online.

In another recent incident which had also gone viral, the driver of a BMW vehicle had allegedly refused to pay S$135 for his petrol at a Caltex service station, because he said he had only asked for S$10 worth. The elderly pump attendant then informed the cashier to let the driver pay S$10, and he would personally absorb the rest of the cost.

Following the incident, the driver had to file a police report, citing fears for his safety after receiving many nuisance calls, SMSes and WhatsApp messages.

The amendments will ban the publication of such personal information when it is done with the intention to harass the victim, or cause violence. It fills a gap in Singapore’s existing laws, which only ban intentional harassment if it assumes the form of threatening, abusive or insulting words, behaviour or communication, MinLaw said.

However, posting someone’s personal information online with the intention to harass or cause violence can be considered a form of deliberate harassment, even if threatening words were not used.