July 19, 2024
SINGAPORE – Five social media platforms have been directed by the authorities to block a network of 95 accounts that published coordinated posts spreading allegations that Singapore is being controlled by China.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on July 19 said there are grounds to believe that the network of accounts can and may be used to mount hostile information campaigns which are directly targeted at Singapore.
The posts by the accounts, which are linked to Guo Wengui – a self-exiled Chinese businessman, Communist Party of China (CPC) critic and convicted fraudster – also allege that China was involved in the selection of Singapore’s fourth generation leader.
MHA said it has directed Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter, to block these accounts from Singapore-based users under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (Fica).
Between April 17 and May 2024, the accounts published more than 120 posts containing videos on Singapore’s leadership transition, the ministry noted.
The Prime Minister’s Office had announced on April 15 that then Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong would take over as prime minister on May 15.
The posts, seen by The Straits Times, include statements like “Singapore is in the CCP’s back pocket”, accompanied by videos of Guo speaking in Mandarin or occasionally using automated voiceovers in English. CCP is another abbreviation for the CPC.
MHA said it had detected the network of accounts through its regular monitoring.
Of the 95 accounts, 92 were directly linked to Guo and organisations affiliated to him – the New Federal State of China and the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation.
The remaining three belong to a Singapore chapter of the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation known as Himalaya Singapore, MHA said.
There is so far no evidence that any of the 95 accounts are operated by Singaporeans, MHA added.
The ministry said Guo’s network has posted other narratives related to Singapore.
“The network’s coordinated actions and precedence of using Singapore to push its agenda have demonstrated its willingness and capability to spread false narratives that are detrimental to Singapore’s interests,” MHA said.
“The timing of the coordinated posts, which coincided with the period of Singapore’s political leadership transition, is indicative of deliberate planning and actions,” it added.
Other than allegations on Singapore’s political leadership, these accounts make other claims, including that the Chinese government hides money in the Republic.
Guo, a one-time real estate mogul, had fled to the United States in 2014 and gained a following as a Chinese government critic and whistle-blower.
He is facing decades in prison after being convicted on July 17 in the US of defrauding his online followers of over US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion).
The money, which he claimed would be used in a series of ventures, including his “citizen journalism” media company, an elite membership service and a new cryptocurrency, was instead used to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a US$37 million yacht.
Guo also has links to prominent right-wing personalities in the US, including media executive Steve Bannon, who was for a time former president Donald Trump’s White House chief strategist.
Based on a 2021 study by social media analytics firm Graphika, Guo is at the centre of a vast network of interrelated media entities and social media accounts that disseminate disinformation on multiple platforms, MHA said.
Graphika’s report, titled Ants In A Web, said Guo’s network of thousands of accounts has become increasingly influential but defies traditional characterisation as either a media organisation or an influence operation, instead being an ever-evolving constellation of personalities and entities that revolve around him.
Its content includes anti-Chinese government and health misinformation posts, as well as harassment campaigns targeted at Chinese dissidents and other perceived enemies, the report said.
The directions issued by MHA are the first use of Singapore’s counter-interference law, Fica, to direct social media providers to block accounts that could be used for hostile information campaigns.
The law, which Parliament passed in 2021, was first invoked in February 2024 to designate businessman Philip Chan Man Ping, 59, as a politically significant person. He had been assessed to be susceptible to being influenced by foreign actors and willing to advance their interests.