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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
National

Singapore outlaws online sexual offences

This photograph taken on May 6, 2019 shows security surveillance cameras in a public area in Singapore. (AFP)

Singapore has outlawed "revenge porn" and "cyber-flashing" -- sending unsolicited images of one's genitals -- the latest country to clamp down on sexual offences committed online.

"Revenge porn", when ex-partners share intimate photos or videos without permission, has become a problem globally because of improvements in technology and the popularity of social media, with many governments legislating against it.

Singapore's parliament passed a bill Monday that made distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images a crime, punishable by up to five years in jail, in addition to a fine and caning.

"Intimate images could become widely shared and may be impossible to completely remove. They have the potential to cause great harm to the victim," said K. Shanmugam, law and home affairs minister.

"Cyber-flashing" will be punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine. If the recipient is younger than 14, it is punishable by up to two years in jail, a fine or caning.

Other new measures include outlawing marital rape, banning child sex dolls, and decriminalising suicide.

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