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Updated: 03/13/2014 20:40 | By Channel NewsAsia
Victims of harassment can get Protection Orders within a day
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SINGAPORE: Victims can get Protection Orders against their harassers within a day in urgent cases.
Law Minister K Shanmugam said this in reply to queries over how fast the new Protection from Harassment Bill can act to prevent an offending post from going viral online.
The new Bill, aimed at protecting victims of cyber-bullying and stalking, was passed on Thursday.
Mr Shanmugam added that further measures may be implemented to make it even easier for victims to seek redress.
Almost every single Member of Parliament in the House had a story to tell about meeting residents who have faced harassment.
There was unanimous support for the Bill, but some MPs had concerns over how effective the new law will be, given how word can spread quickly on the internet.
An MP for Marine Parade GRC, Tin Pei Ling, said that speed is crucial for online harassment cases because "within one minute, it can (go) viral".
When a victim obtains a Protection Order, a website must remove any offending publication against him.
This also applies to third parties who share and forward the same content.
The Law Minister, however, acknowledged that the new law cannot be a panacea for all of society's ills.
Mr Shanmugam said: "It's not going to change behaviour overnight. I think it will set in place some serious standards, some pretty stiff penalties. It will make people be more aware.
"But there will be a wide variety of cases. The Bill will cover a large number of them...(but) it's not possible to say today we will be able to cover everything."
The Bill, said Mr Shanmugam, is an important first step for Singapore and he highlighted the need for the authorities to also work with partners in other jurisdictions.
He added that the government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the law and make it easy for victims to seek redress without having to engage lawyers, where possible.
Mr Shanmugam said: "I don't think you can completely remove the sight of lawyers over these things, much as many would like that.
"But we will try and keep it simple and the Bill envisages subsidiary legislation and one of the things that we have in mind is to have a set of procedures which are simple, easy, effective and such that you can go and do it yourself without having to use lawyers. But the other side may get lawyers."
On the law enforcement side, Mr Shanmugam said police officers are being trained to effectively assess harassment cases and breaches of Protection Orders.
He assured the House that no victim will be turned away, even if the harasser is anonymous.
Police, Mr Shanmugam said, will be beefing up their capabilities to deal with cyber crimes. - CNA/ir