Singapore: Introduced reform of the Protection from Harassment Act

On 1 April 2019, the Singapore Ministry of Law introduced its proposed modifications to the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) in parliament. The POHA was passed in 2014 to provide criminal and civil remedies for harassment, as well as civil remedies for misleading assertions of facts. The main proposed change concerns the inclusion of a new crime, namely "doxxing". "Doxxing" is defined as releasing personal information about a person in order to harass, provoke violence, or threaten that person. The proposed POHA enhancement also includes an upgraded protection order, which would include prompter victims protection and harsher punishments for unrepentant harassers who violate protection orders.