3 in 4 polled here believe social media can call people in power to account

Three in four people here are motivated to use social media because they believe it can hold people in power - such as politicians, business leaders and celebrities - accountable for their actions, according to a recent survey.

This is higher than the average of just over three in five across 20 countries and territories studied by market research company Blackbox Research.

The firm told The Straits Times that this is a "very interesting finding" for Singapore from the March survey of about 1,300 Singaporeans and permanent residents on their perceptions of social media.

This is because Singaporeans tend to be "shy about expressing political viewpoints publicly", Blackbox said.

"It supports what we have been seeing in other surveys in recent times - that Singaporeans are more enthusiastic about calling out those in powerful positions using the power of social media," the firm added.

"It also seems to be producing results in terms of apologies, a review of decisions and more."

The finding gels to an extent with what was observed in the high-profile court case involving former Indonesian maid Parti Liyani, said Blackbox.

In that case, the High Court acquitted Ms Parti last September of stealing from Mr Liew Mun Leong, former chairman of Changi Airport Group, and his family. It also raised questions about his motivations in making a police report against her.

Days later, Mr Liew stepped down from his chairman role following public furore over the case, including on Facebook.

Blackbox said another study that it did found that people were "more unnerved by the way the case was handled", and were not against Mr Liew personally.

"This suggests that social media reactions merely reflected wider community sentiment," it said.

Associate Professor Edson Tandoc Jr of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said that many here might use social media as a check on people in power, partly because of how easily they can use it to express themselves.

"Social media platforms give users access to a potentially mass audience," said Prof Tandoc, who is director of NTU's Centre for Information Integrity and the Internet.

"We've also been seeing instances of online vigilantism and examples of cancel culture in Singapore, which definitely shape how users view social media as platforms and what these platforms can do," he said, adding that people have posted photos of social distancing violators on social media.

Blackbox explained that some social media platforms preserve users' anonymity, which might encourage them to use the forum to share their views.

IT professional Spencer Tan, 26, uses social media more to connect with friends.

But if there are concerns he cannot resolve with people in power through the proper channels, he might raise them on social media.

"It's the easiest way for people's voices to be heard," he said.

The survey also found that 57 per cent of people here feel that social media companies and platforms have little to no influence on Singapore politics.

This is higher than the average of 45 per cent for the 20 markets surveyed.

Blackbox believes that the Singapore finding could be explained by how the country has not faced significant political disruption in the last few decades.

"This might have led Singaporeans to feel that there is little that can be influenced in terms of outcomes," said the research firm.

Singaporeans are also among the least at ease globally with social media gathering data on them - only about 22 per cent of people here were comfortable.

This is lower than the global average of 29 per cent. The lowest is Japan at 9 per cent and the highest is Indonesia at 50 per cent.

Blackbox said the Singapore finding is in line with that in many developed countries where debate over what data social media companies use has become common.

Dr Zhang Hao Goh, a research fellow at the Centre for Information Integrity and the Internet, said that, generally, Singaporeans may be cautious when it comes to revealing information about themselves. This can be partly explained by Singaporeans' recollection of previous cases of data privacy breaches here, he added.

Another reason is "the negative social consequences associated with sharing information like personal opinions... deemed socially undesirable, such as promoting racism or discrimination, on social media platforms", he said.