Question:
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry plans to include TikTok Shop in the annual E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings; and (b) in view that some e-commerce platforms have not put in place essential anti-scam measures as recommended by the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams, whether the Ministry will consider legislation as a means to safeguard consumers who shop on such platforms.
Answer:
Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:
1. The E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings, or TSR for short, informs users on the anti-scam measures which e-commerce platforms have in place. The TSR features platforms which have a large local outreach, or a significant risk of e-commerce scams.
2. TikTok Shop is currently not listed in the TSR, because it has accounted for very few of the e-commerce scams in Singapore so far - less than 1% of all e-commerce scams in 2023. We will continue to monitor the reach and scams situation on TikTok Shop, and will include it in the TSR if we find that it is warranted.
3. The Online Criminal Harms Act, which was passed in Parliament last year, will allow the Government to introduce Codes of Practice to require designated online service providers to implement measures to prevent and disrupt scams. The Ministry of Home Affairs will publish the Codes of Practice later this year.
