Singapore blocks foreign-linked websites, warns against ‘hostile’ disinformation

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore on Tuesday blocked access to 10 websites linked to foreign actors which the government said could be used to mount “hostile” disinformation campaigns against the city-state.

The move comes as Singapore prepares for elections to be held before November next year.

“These 10 inauthentic websites have been observed to masquerade as Singapore websites by spoofing or using terms associated with Singapore in their domain name and incorporating familiar local features and visuals,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement.

“They also carried content on Singapore, some of which were generated by artificial intelligence. These are common tactics used by malicious foreign actors: build websites which can attract a local following, that may subsequently be used as platforms to mount HICs,” it said, referring to hostile information campaigns.

Two of the websites use domain names closely related or similar to legitimate Singapore-linked websites.

They carried content “that may mislead their audience into thinking that the content is reflective of official positions or local sentiments,” MHA said.

Seven of the websites utilize the word “Singapore” or associated terms in their domain name and publish content related to the country.

The 10th presents itself as a Singapore news website, carrying mostly articles that we “were likely to have been written” using AI tools.

“These 10 inauthentic websites could potentially be used by foreign actors to mount HICs against Singapore, and it is in the public interest to issue directions… to disable access to them for users in Singapore,” MHA said.