Singapore’s civic space continues to be classified as “repressed”, according to the People Power Under Attack 2024 report by CIVICUS, marking a persistent trend of deteriorating freedoms under the city-state’s stringent laws and tightly controlled political environment.
The CIVICUS Monitor, a global research collaboration that evaluates freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and expression in 198 countries, has kept Singapore in the “repressed” category, citing an escalating pattern of restrictions that have targeted activists, students, media organisations and artists alike.
The 2024 rating reinforces growing concern among rights groups over the government’s use of legislation to silence dissent and maintain its longstanding grip on public discourse.
At the centre of these concerns are laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) and the Public Order Act (POA), both of which have been invoked repeatedly in 2024 and 2025 to curtail activism and penalise critics.
The report presents a timeline of incidents in which individuals and organisations faced legal or administrative action for peaceful protests, critical reporting, or political commentary.
Legal tools as instruments of suppression
The Public Order Act, first enacted in 2009 and amended several times since, was designed to regulate assemblies and processions. Under this law, a police permit is required for any public gathering, even if involving just a single individual. The 2024 report highlights the broad application of this law to suppress political expression.
In February 2025, three women — Mossammad Sobikun Nahar, Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, and Annamalai Kokila Parvathi — were charged under the POA for conducting a walk from Orchard Road to the Istana in support of the Palestinian cause.
They carried umbrellas and letters addressed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, calling on Singapore to suspend arms trade with Israel and allow peaceful expression of international solidarity. Each now faces the possibility of six months’ imprisonment and fines of up to S$10,000 (approx. US$7,770).
Shortly after, in March 2025, police launched an investigation into a memorial-style installation at the National University of Singapore, where students and alumni laid out 124 pairs of shoes representing victims in Palestine. The authorities seized students’ devices and clothing, and summoned them for questioning — despite the peaceful and symbolic nature of the act.
CIVICUS notes that such responses create a climate in which young Singaporeans fear reprisal even for passive political statements.
Weaponising “fake news” laws
Since its enactment in 2019, POFMA has become one of the government’s most widely used tools for controlling public narrative. Under the law, ministers can issue correction orders against any “false statement of fact” they deem prejudicial to public interest. While presented as a tool against misinformation, POFMA has frequently been used against journalists, political opponents and academics.
In early 2025, The Online Citizen and video channel Twenty Two Thirty were served POFMA correction orders over coverage of the controversy surrounding Minister K. Shanmugam’s rental of state-owned bungalows at Ridout Road. Both platforms complied, but raised concerns about selective enforcement and lack of transparency in the process.
Similarly, opposition figure Kenneth Jeyaretnam received multiple POFMA orders — his tenth by March 2025 — after raising concerns over employment of foreign auxiliary police. While the government labelled his statements “misleading”, critics argue the law is being weaponised to silence inconvenient speech rather than promote accuracy.
An academic website, the East Asia Forum, was blocked in January 2025 after refusing to amend an article critical of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The decision marked the second time the Australian-based site was targeted, with analysts warning that the move amounted to cross-border censorship of academic discourse.
Suppressing independent voices
The Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), a Singapore-based group that campaigns against the death penalty, has faced increasing government scrutiny. In December 2024, its website and social media channels were designated a Declared Online Location (DOL) under POFMA — effectively criminalising donations or material support to the group for two years.
Faced with potential criminal liability for their volunteers and donors, the TJC announced in January 2025 that it would suspend its online presence. The group described the DOL status as an “unjust” measure that undermines civil society’s ability to advocate for reforms.
Another correction direction was issued in October 2024 against Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) for allegedly false claims about secret executions in Singapore. The network pushed back, calling the order an attempt to intimidate and discredit regional organisations speaking on capital punishment.
According to FORUM-ASIA, a regional human rights coalition, the extended use of POFMA against activist groups amounts to a form of strategic legal pressure designed to erode civic participation and donor confidence.
Art, media and digital surveillance under scrutiny
Singapore’s censorship of cultural and artistic expression also came under the spotlight.
In November 2024, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) denied classification to the documentary Small Hours Of The Night, effectively banning it from being screened at the Singapore International Film Festival. The film explored themes of urban alienation and state surveillance, themes that may have contributed to its rejection.
On the media front, multiple independent outlets including The Edge Singapore, The Independent Singapore, and Bloomberg received POFMA correction orders for coverage related to Good Class Bungalow transactions involving politicians. These cases reflect the increasing difficulty media outlets face in reporting on matters of public interest without drawing legal action.
The 2024 CIVICUS report also references an investigation by Citizen Lab identifying Singapore as one of six countries suspected of using Graphite spyware, a surveillance tool capable of accessing phones and monitoring activity without users’ consent.
Though the government has not publicly acknowledged such tools, rights groups are concerned about their potential use against journalists and dissidents.
Singapore in regional and global context
According to CIVICUS, 116 out of 198 countries are now categorised as having repressed or closed civic spaces. This accounts for nearly 70 percent of the global population living under conditions where civic freedoms are severely curtailed.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore joins a list of nine countries with a repressed rating — alongside India, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The report notes that many of these states share a common pattern of suppressing dissent through legal frameworks disguised as public order, anti-terrorism or anti-fake news laws.
While Singapore retains a reputation for economic dynamism and clean governance, rights groups have long criticised its approach to political control, which includes defamation lawsuits against opposition members, strict media licensing regimes, and near-total dominance of the ruling party in Parliament.
CIVICUS’ call for reform
CIVICUS calls on the Singaporean government to repeal or amend laws that restrict peaceful expression, including POFMA and the Public Order Act. The report also urges greater judicial oversight of ministerial powers, legal protection for civil society groups, and transparency in law enforcement practices.
It further encourages international bodies, private sector entities and foreign governments to hold Singapore accountable for its human rights obligations under international treaties and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which it is a signatory.
So far, however, there has been little indication that the government is willing to relax its stance. Officials have repeatedly stated that laws like POFMA are necessary to protect public order, prevent racial discord, and ensure social harmony.
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