Opening Remarks by Minister Josephine Teo at Digital for Life Partners' Appreciation Event

05 JUL 2024

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam,

Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive Officer, IMDA,

Colleagues and Friends of the Digital for Life Movement

Introduction

I thank you all for being here with us this afternoon.
And in particular, I’d like to thank President Tharman, for joining us on this occasion. I think this is his first time joining us as Patron for the Appreciation event. In fact, we are very grateful that he responded positively to our request to be the Patron of the Digital for Life movement. As you would know, the movement had benefited greatly from former President Halimah Yacob’s guidance when she was Patron and we hoped for the same with President Tharman. And of course, we all know that President Tharman does not disappoint.
In fact, he spoke recently at the opening gala of the Asia Tech X Summit, addressing the many issues societies must deal with as AI innovations and adoption continue to advance. If you have not heard the speech and have wondered what a considered national response to the opportunities and challenges of AI might look like, I encourage you to check out this speech for the breadth of its vision and also the depth of its reflections. I think you will agree with me that there is so much to gain from it. I also want to recommend you read it together with our NAIS2.0 strategy document.
I bring this up because our national response to the AI opportunity is built upon our whole approach to digital governance. I spoke about this last year at a symposium organised by the Lien Foundation. Then, I had explained that digital governance was not just about laws and regulation. Particularly in emerging areas where there are no ready playbooks that we can copy and adapt to our circumstances, we need a much more holistic view of our governance requirements. And for digital, these would have to include investing in infrastructure and R&D, building up capabilities of our people and businesses, and being active in international discussions – participating in discussions and contributing to ideas and forward momentum. Also, another non-trivial requirement is for the government itself to develop the capabilities to govern this domain.
There was one more thing that I highlighted that is relevant to this occasion, and it was our belief in the value of partnerships. Because the opportunities and challenges that we deal with are so diverse, the ability to bring more resources to bear become even more important. By that we mean more insights, more ideas, more initiatives, because together, they allow us to address the needs of more communities impacted by digital developments, rather than if we were to approach things in a very monolithic fashion. This belief, that Government efforts alone will only go so far in ensuring digital inclusion and increasingly online safety, is why we started the DfL movement in the first place. It was started with the full knowledge and understanding that digital development is quite different from other areas of development, where you can more or less scope out how to go about it, and you don’t have to constantly be just reacting to trends as they emerge, or reacting to issues as they pop up. It is a much more dynamic and chaotic landscape. We have to find ways of dealing with these fears, and dealing with this uncertainty. And this has proven to be the right instinct, and it has been tremendously valuable for the public sector to be able to draw on the passion and commitment of our partners in the private and people sectors. To be able to develop responses quickly, to try them out without being too angst about whether they have long term value and impact just yet. But we know that it is in trying, that we develop a stronger sense of what works and what doesn’t.

The Digital for Life movement continues to grow from strength to strength and empower Singaporeans from all walks of life to thrive in a digital world.
We had our last gathering of DfL partners, which was also the first DfL appreciation for partners, about two years ago. Since then, the DfL movement has expanded and it has gathered pace. The number of DfL partners has more than doubled, from 130 partners in 2022 to over 300 today. Many more organisations have come onboard to support our shared mission – to empower all our citizens to thrive in a digital world and ensure that no one is left behind.
Our partners have driven a wide range of initiatives in support of this mission. Some have continued to champion digital inclusion and worked with us to develop resources based on the Digital Skills for Life framework, launched in January this year. Others have conducted workshops for youths from underserved communities to have hands-on experience with digital making and also, play around with newer expressions of technologies like generative AI. Many also supported events like the annual Digital for Life Festival to reach out to our communities, so that digital is not scary, untouchable, and only brings bad things.
The impact of this work is significant. The DfL movement has benefitted more than 400,000 Singaporeans ranging from seniors, to parents, to persons with disabilities, and some are now “playing it forward” to support those around them.
A very good example is Mdm Zarinah Binte Baharom. She had nearly been scammed, and got quite shocked, and decided that maybe she should learn something and then now, guide her peers.

We must come together to address increasingly complex issues in the digital world.
As our digitalisation journey continues, I believe that we should tune our minds to expect more complex challenges.
One pressing challenge that demands close attention is online safety. Around the world, Governments recognise the urgency of this issue, and some may resort to legislation. In Singapore too, we have not shied away from changing our laws when there are good reasons to do so.

a. For example, the amendments to the Broadcasting Act, which took effect in February last year, allow us to direct social media services to swiftly disable access to egregious content.

b. We have also introduced the Code of Practice for Online Safety. Among other things, it requires designated social media services to have in place systems or processes to minimise children’s exposure to inappropriate content and provide tools for children and their parents to manage their safety. The designated social media services are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and HardwareZone.

c. To further strengthen online safety, we will be introducing a new Code for App Distribution Services or App Stores as they are commonly referred to. This will require designated app stores to implement age assurance measures, so children can be protected from downloading apps that are not appropriate for their age.
But there are other areas where it is not so clear legislation or regulation is the right answer, or the only answer. We have seen some countries introducing legislation with varying levels of effectiveness.

a. An example would be laws that prohibit or restrict screen time for children, to address online addiction.

b. In 2011, South Korea introduced a law prohibiting children under 16 from playing online video games between midnight and 6am. This was commonly referred to as the “Cinderella” law, which did not cover mobile gaming or social media use by children, was eventually abolished in 2021, a full ten years after it was introduced.

c. China introduced a similar law restricting video gaming in 2019, which it further tightened in 2021. The law, which is still in force, restricts play time by users under 18 to an hour each day on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays. There are no conclusive studies, and it remains to be seen whether gaming addiction has been reined in since the law was introduced.

d. Just this week, the US state of New York passed a bill that requires parental consent for children to see content recommended by a social media platform’s algorithm - a move to limit what is considered “addictive content feeds”. But there are going to be enforcement challenges, because for example, how do you ensure that the consent actually comes from the child’s parent or that the child does not circumvent the measures by using an adult account. And children are very inventive.
These challenges reflect the fact that online safety and appropriate technology use are multi-faceted issues with no clear-cut answers or singular solutions.
If our children are addicted to social media, the solution may not rely solely or even primarily on legislation. We must ask what other factors contribute, such as whether parents are equipped with the right guidance, or whether the children have adequate access to activities in the physical world that not only engage them, but to help them find joy and meaning in.
It is precisely because we are dealing with issues where there are few clear answers that we need to take a more holistic approach. And we need to come together as a community of interested stakeholders to address these issues collectively.
This is the very heart of the DfL movement. Whether it is online safety or digital inclusion, we believe that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. We each contribute a diversity of experience, expertise and best practices that enable us to design a more appropriate set of responses to increasingly complex challenges.
We have seen this happen for online safety. In parallel with our legislative efforts, many of our DfL partners have stepped up to support us in running programmes and developing public education materials about staying safe online.

a. For example, Google and TOUCH Community Services have contributed content to IMDA’s public education resources which aim to support parents in guiding children to use technology in safe, healthy, and responsible ways.

b. Focus on the Family Singapore runs “Raising Future Ready Kids in the Digital Age”, a programme to support families navigating the digital world. This programme has benefitted Singaporeans like Mr Daryl Sung and Ms Melissa Goh, who have two primary school-going daughters. Daryl and Melissa attended a webinar on “Screenwise Parenting” where they learned useful skills on screentime management and how to support their children to have healthy and balanced relationships with technology.
These organisations are some of the 12 DfL Champions and 38 DfL Catalysts that we will honour today. We will hear more about them over the course of the event, but I want to add my appreciation to each and everyone of them for their strong support and contributions to our online safety efforts, and the broader DfL movement.
I hope to see more partners step forward and join us to develop programmes and public education resources to build a safer online space that everyone feels comfortable to be part of.
And on that note, I thank the President once again, and I thank all of our DfL partners for joining us on this important mission. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the event. Thank you.