Over five days of public hearings held so far in the past two weeks, views and suggestions were put forward — in the form of written and oral representations — at the public hearings conducted by the Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods. To date, about half of the 79 individuals and groups scheduled to give evidence at the hearings have done so.

Dr Shashi Jayakumar, Head, Centre of Excellence for National Security and Executive Coordinator, Future Issues and Technology, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said: “There has from time to time been discussion on some sort of international set of norms or basic understandings on controlling various issues in the cyber and disinformation spheres – akin to a Geneva Convention on these subjects. At present, these attempt appear to have failed for the time being, and it appears extremely unlikely that nations will attempt at any point in the near future to come together to talk over red lines and rules of the road when it comes to disinformation campaigns.”

Assistant Professor Michael Raska, Assistant Professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said: “Singapore needs to explore the nature of the evolving strategic competition in East Asia. In this context, Singapore may become vulnerable to other non-traditional emerging threats, particularly political and hybrid warfare. As conflicts evolve parallel in the cyber and information domains, the centres of gravity are also going to shift. The value, and more importantly, the accuracy and reliability of strategic information relevant for the situational awareness and function of the nation state as a system will become even more important with the increased dependence on cyberspace.”

Click here to view the full article