Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) identified 65 apps with harmful content and 24 apps carrying incorrect age ratings in its first review of major stores, which are required to protect young users.
IMDA’s review ran from April 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, spanning more than 7,000 apps on five platforms: Samsung Galaxy Store, Microsoft Store, Huawei AppGallery, Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Mothership reported that IMDA combined app stores’ annual safety reports with mystery-shopper exercises, direct testing and operational data.
Sexual material accounted for 59 of the 65 apps removed. Four others contained violent material, while two involved content facilitating vice and organized crime. IMDA cited examples including a tool that could turn uploaded photos into sexually explicit images and a game it said featured excessive violence, including murder.
The incorrect ratings spanned the same broad categories: 14 apps involved sexual material, three involved violence and seven involved vice and organized crime.
Singapore’s Code of Practice for Online Safety for App Distribution Services took effect March 31, 2025. It requires designated services to use safeguards, including age assurance, to restrict children’s access to age-inappropriate apps. All five retailers are designated app-distribution services under the code. IMDA has warned that no age-assurance method is “completely foolproof,” CNA reported.
IMDA’s assessment found that age checks were generally in place and difficult to bypass. It also identified limited cases on Huawei AppGallery and Microsoft Store where restrictions were absent or could be bypassed.
The code is intended to help parents assess whether apps are suitable and limit children’s access to inappropriate content. IMDA guidance lets stores choose among age verification, estimation and inference, while making them responsible for protecting personal data collected for checks. In a statement quoted by Mothership, IMDA said it would continue working with designated services to implement safeguards and address gaps found in the review.
