Cyberbullying, Harassment and Online Safety in Singapore: Where to Get Help and How to Report

If someone is cyberbullying or harassing you right now and you feel you are in immediate danger, call the Singapore Police Force at 999 first. For urgent emotional support, the Samaritans of Singapore run a 24-hour hotline at 1767. This is the hub for cyberbullying harassment online safety Singapore help reporting resources. It routes you to the right action based on what you need: understand what constitutes cyberbullying, take action if you are being targeted, or find the specific reporting steps for a service.

In 2025, 74% of Singapore residents encountered some form of online harm, up from 65% in 2024, according to the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's (MDDI) Online Safety Poll. Cyberbullying and harassment were the most common type, reported by 45% of those who encountered harms. 32% of victims were aged 15-24. Among secondary school students, approximately one in four experienced cyberbullying in 2024, according to a study by the Singapore Children's Society and the Institute of Policy Studies.

• In Immediate Danger: Call 999 for the Singapore Police Force.
• Urgent Emotional Support: Samaritans of Singapore: 1767 (24 hours). TOUCHline: 1800 377 2252.
• Online Harms Encountered (2025): 74% of Singapore residents (MDDI Online Safety Poll 2025).
• Most Common Harm Type (2025): Cyberbullying and harassment (45% of those who encountered harms).
• Secondary School Students Affected (2024): Approximately 1 in 4 (Singapore Children's Society & IPS).
• Took Action After Harm (2025): 60% blocked the person or reported to the platform.

A map of Singapore online safety resources sits across several detailed guides. Find the one that matches what you need right now.

To understand what cyberbullying and online harassment look like, including doxxing, impersonation, outing, exclusion, flaming, and trolling, and how Singapore's Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) classifies them, go to the guide that explains the types and signs. If you are already being targeted and need the immediate steps, from blocking and muting to preserving evidence with screen-grabs and what to say to a support team, go to the guide about what to do when you are being cyberbullied. If you need the step-by-step reporting process for a specific app or site, go to the guide that covers those reporting mechanisms.

Two separate systems handle reporting online harm in Singapore. Confusing them is a common and costly mistake. Reporting to a service and reporting to the police are not interchangeable. They have different goals, different evidentiary requirements, and different outcomes.

Reporting To The Service

Reporting to a service flags content for removal under its terms of use. Every major service used in Singapore, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X (Twitter), HardwareZone, has a reporting mechanism. The service reviews the content and may remove it, issue a warning, or suspend the account. Use this path when you want content taken down because it violates the service's rules. It is fast. It has no legal force. If the service refuses to act, your only recourse is to escalate within its appeals system.

Reporting To The Singapore Police Force

A police report initiates a legal process under Singapore law, specifically the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA). POHA covers doxxing (Section 3), stalking, false statements of fact (Section 15A), and cyberbullying. The police can investigate. If sufficient evidence exists, they can press charges. File a police report when the harassment involves a credible threat of violence, financial loss, repeated stalking, or a known perpetrator whose harassment is severe. The police also handle scam-related harms through the Anti-Scam Command, which operates the ScamShield app and hotline (1799). You can also apply for a POHA Protection Order from the courts to restrain a respondent from further harassment. In urgent cases, an Expedited Protection Order is available within 48 to 72 hours of application.

Online harassment takes a toll that goes beyond the screen. The online harassment support Singapore ecosystem includes mental health services and practical intervention channels. Call them even if you are not sure your situation is serious enough.

Samaritans Of Singapore (SOS)

Call 1767, 24 hours a day. SOS provides confidential emotional support for anyone in distress, including distress caused by online harassment, cyberbullying, or doxxing. You do not need to be suicidal to call. The service is free and available in multiple languages.

TOUCH Cyber Wellness And TOUCHline

Call TOUCHline at 1800 377 2252. TOUCH Cyber Wellness provides counselling and resources for cyberbullying and online safety issues, with a focus on children and youth. They run school-based programmes and can advise parents on how to talk to their children about online harms.

Institute Of Mental Health (IMH) Helpline

Call 6389 2222 for mental health support that may include issues arising from online harm. IMH also has a mobile crisis team for urgent situations.

What You Are Trying To Do	Best Channel	Key Detail
Get content removed from a service	Service reporting mechanism	Faster but no legal force; the service decides
Press criminal charges or get a Protection Order	Singapore Police Force (999) or apply for POHA order	Requires evidence; legal process takes time
Get immediate emotional support	Samaritans of Singapore (1767)	24 hours; free; confidential
Get counselling for a child or teen	TOUCHline (1800 377 2252)	Specialist cyber wellness support
Report a scam	ScamShield app or hotline (1799)	Operated by police Anti-Scam Command

Preserve the evidence, whichever channel you use. Take screen-grabs of every instance of harassment, including the date, time, service, and user name. Save the URLs. Do not delete messages even if they are upsetting. Deletion may remove them from the service's servers before you have a chance to report. For police reports under POHA, the court expects a clear chain of evidence showing a pattern of harassment, not a single offensive message.

POHA covers doxxing, publishing a person's personal data such as home address, phone number, or workplace with intent to cause harassment, alarm, or distress. POHA also covers false statements of fact about a person that cause harassment, alarm, or distress. Enhanced penalties apply if the victim was in an intimate relationship with the perpetrator. Breaching a Protection Order is a criminal offence.

For online falsehoods affecting public interest, rather than personal harassment, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) applies. The POFMA Office under MDDI administers it. A POFMA correction direction is not a fact-check article. It is a legal direction with enforceable penalties for non-compliance. The POFMA Office issued 24 directions in 2024.

Singapore's online safety resources suit the everyday resident who has encountered online harm and needs to know exactly which channel to use, without legal jargon. They suit parents and educators who need concrete conversation starters and classroom-ready explanations about cyberbullying, doxxing, and the Protection from Harassment Act. They suit small-business owners and older adults who have been targeted by impersonation scams and need to recognise the patterns before the next attempt.

A reader looking for political commentary, party endorsements, or activist calls to action should go to advocacy organisations or political news sites. A reader who wants official government communications, legal advice, or to report a crime should go directly to the Singapore Police Force, the POFMA Office, or the Personal Data Protection Commission. A reader outside Singapore seeking general media literacy theory without Singapore-specific laws and tools should use a global resource such as the News Literacy Project or First Draft.