Asia
Singapore
Singapore runs a binding IMDA online-safety code regime delivering several genuine DSA-style user-protective elements (publicly published annual online-safety reports, child-safety duties and app-store age assurance backed by S$1m fines) but has no ad repository, researcher access, reach disclosure, recommender-transparency, minor-ad ban or independent-audit mandate.
Scored against the DSA
Each obligation the DSA imposes on very large platforms, and whether Singapore’s law requires the same. Cells cover DSA-style, user-protective transparency and accountability only.
- Required by law
- Partial / emerging
- No such obligation
- Undetermined
Transparency
Public ad libraryDSA Art. 39
No public all-ads library mandate.
Transparency reportsDSA Art. 15 / 24 / 42
The Online Safety Code requires designated social media services to submit annual online-safety reports published on IMDA's website.
Source ↗Researcher data accessDSA Art. 40
No DSA Art. 40 analogue.
Reach disclosureDSA Art. 24(2)
No periodic public active-user disclosure duty; designation thresholds are IMDA-side.
Accountability
Systemic risk assessmentDSA Art. 34–35
The Code imposes binding risk-mitigation and child-safety-by-design duties, but no standalone documented systemic risk-assessment obligation.
Source ↗Independent auditDSA Art. 37
No external audit mandate; IMDA assesses compliance itself via the annual reports.
Algorithmic transparencyDSA Art. 27 / 38
No recommender-transparency duty or chronological-feed requirement.
Regulator + penaltiesDSA Art. 49–52, 74
IMDA may impose financial penalties up to S$1,000,000 for Online Safety Code non-compliance under the Broadcasting Act.
Source ↗
Child protection
No profiling ads to minorsDSA Art. 26(3) / 28
No profiling-based-ad ban for minors (the Code restricts harmful content to children, not ad targeting).
Age assuranceBeyond the DSA
The App Distribution Services Code requires designated app stores to implement age assurance from 1 April 2026 to block under-18 downloads of age-inappropriate apps.
Source ↗Child-safety duty of careDSA Art. 28
The Online Safety Code imposes child-safety duties: minimise minors' exposure to harmful content and provide differentiated child accounts with restrictive default settings.
Source ↗
On the horizon
What's being debated
Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act + Online Safety Commission
Designated social-media services must file annual online-safety/transparency reports to IMDA and provide reporting tools, with a new Online Safety Commission empowered to order takedowns and victim redress.
Latest: The Online Safety Commission began operations on 29 June 2026 under the OSRAA regime, building on the 2023 Code of Practice for Online Safety. source ↗
Compare every jurisdiction
Singapore is one of 30 non-EU jurisdictions we scored against the DSA. See them all side by side.