Singapore outlaws revenge porn, cyber-flashing

Singapore has outlawed “cyber-flashing” – the act of sending unsolicited images of one’s private parts – and “revenge porn”, becoming the latest country to clamp down on sexual offences committed online.

Singapore’s parliament passed a bill on Monday that made distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images a crime, punishable by up to five years in jail, in addition to a fine and caning.

“Intimate images could become widely shared and on platforms, and may be impossible to completely remove. They have the potential to cause great harm to the victim,” said K Shanmugam, law and home affairs minister.

“Cyber-flashing” will be punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine. If the recipient is younger than 14, it is punishable by up to two years in jail, a fine or caning.

“Revenge porn”, where ex-partners share intimate photos or videos without permission, has become a problem globally because of improvements in technology and the popularity of social media, with many governments legislating against it.

The changes are part of a major overhaul of Singapore’s penal code. Other new measures include outlawing marital rape, banning child sex dolls, and decriminalising suicide.

Singapore’s nearly 150-year-old penal code was inherited from colonial ruler Britain and was last fully reviewed in 2007.