Singapore plans to require designated social-media services to use age assurance and add teen protections, as an MDDI engagement reported by Channel NewsAsia found support for staged access.
In a written parliamentary response on Sept. 8, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said designated services would have to use age-assurance measures so children under 13 could not open accounts or keep existing ones. The proposal also calls for additional protections for users ages 13 to 17, addressing risks such as messages from strangers and potentially addictive features including autoplay.
MDDI is considering a default daily time limit for each service, with parents able to adjust safeguard settings. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will regularly test whether age-assurance systems work effectively. MDDI said it had engaged Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X and HardwareZone on the proposal.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that about 80% of parents and nearly 70% of youths involved in the engagement favored tiered social-media access over an outright ban. CNA said more than 2,000 parents and youths took part between June and August 2026. The outreach included focus groups, school dialogues and a CrowdTaskSG survey.
The report said excessive use ranked among the leading concerns for both groups. About 84% of parents placed exposure to inappropriate content among their top concerns. Parents generally supported daily screen-time limits they could adjust, while some youths worried rigid limits could interfere with schoolwork and extracurricular activities.
CNA reported that participants favored no social-media access for children ages 0 to 6 and age-appropriate access for those ages 7 to 15. Youths generally supported greater access from age 16, while parents continued to favor age-appropriate access. Those reported preferences use different age boundaries from MDDI’s proposal, which sets an under-13 account threshold and adds safeguards for users ages 13 to 17.
CNA also cited under-16 restrictions in Indonesia in March 2026 and Malaysia in June 2026 as regional examples. MDDI plans legislative amendments in 2027. It said services unable or unwilling to adopt the safeguards may face a minimum user age of 18.
