Tech Talk

Direct messaging trolls - time to flush out this hidden menace

Evidence grows of the harm direct message trolls do as they operate under the cover of encryption technology and amid Big Tech’s failure in self-policing

Recent research data has cast a spotlight on direct messaging as a cesspool of threatening, abusive and insulting messages. PHOTO: REUTERS
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Singapore is planning to introduce new laws to rein in harmful online behaviour and content targeting vulnerable people - part of growing global efforts to hold tech giants to account.

Proposed codes of conduct will be debated later this year at public consultations, where discussions are expected to centre around fines if online social platforms fail to provide a statutory duty of care to users here.

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