Singapore Orders Meta To Act On Fake Accounts Or Threat Of Fines Of IDR 12.7 Billion

Illustration (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Singapore Police have ordered Meta Platform Inc., to implement anti-scam measures against advertisements, profiles, accounts, and business pages disguised as government officials on Facebook.

If it fails, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg could be fined up to 1 million Singapore dollars (IDR 12.7 billion), as referred to in the country's new online Criminal Hazard Act, which comes into effect in February 2024.

"We issued this (order) to Meta because Facebook is the main platform used by fraudsters to commit identity fraud, and the police consider that stricter action is needed to eradicate this fraud," said Interior Minister Goh Pei Ming, citing Reuters.

In August, Singapore's Interior Ministry found that more than a third of all e-commerce scams reported in 2024 were carried out on Facebook.

The ministry also considers Facebook Marketplace as the weakest among six e-commerce marketplaces in terms of the anti-fraud features applied.

Not only in Singapore, it seems that currently Meta has received many calls from various countries. Including the Malaysian Authority summoned TikTok and Meta officials to question the slow process carried out by the management of the two applications in attracting hoax and immoral content that violates the country's law.

Malaysia's Minister of Communications, Fahmi Fadzil, said TikTok and Meta leaders would be clarified at the Malaysian Royal Police Headquarters (PDRM), Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 4, 2025.

In addition, the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs also claimed to have summoned representatives of Meta and TikTok for discussions regarding negative content on each platform.