Teo Yi-Ling is Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at RSIS. She engages in research and advisory in the areas of policy and legal issues relating to economic security, regulation and governance of online spaces, disinformation, and critical/emerging technology. These are underscored with an extensive track record in legal and management academia; legal practice in the areas of intellectual property, media, and technology; media producing; and publishing. She was formerly Deputy Head of CENS.

A qualified Barrister-at-Law (England & Wales) and an Advocate & Solicitor (Singapore), Yi-Ling has practice experience with international and local law firms in the areas of intellectual property, technology, media and entertainment, and commercial law. Her clients included production companies, technology and innovation companies, creative agencies, and government and regulatory agencies. In her capacity as Senior Faculty and Principal Legal Counsel for the IP Academy at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), she led the team that developed and launched a postgraduate degree programme in IP management, and a specialist certificate programme in intangible asset management.

Yi-Ling holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Liverpool, and an LL.M. (cum laude) from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. She is the author of “Media Law in Singapore”, published by Sweet & Maxwell; a pioneering and definitive text examining the development of media and communication-related laws in Singapore, alongside the practical management of media issues. She has extensive academic experience, having developed and taught courses in media law, intellectual property law, entertainment business transactions, and media ethics at a number of tertiary institutions in Singapore, and in the U.S., Dutch, and Australian university systems.

• Media and Communication Law and Regulation
• Intellectual Property Law and Management
• Data Protection and Privacy Law
• Cybersecurity Law and Management
• Legal Issues in Disruptive Technology and Science
• Ethical Decision-making Models

Member, ITSC Artificial Intelligence Technical Committee
Member, Internet Society
Member, Singapore Academy of Law

Policy Reports

• A Landscape Survey of Foreign Investment Screening Measures and Relevance for Singapore

  18 August, 2023

• Countermeasures Against Foreign Interference

  17 April, 2020

• Cases of Foreign Interference in Asia

  26 March, 2020

RSIS Commentaries

• The Paradox of Scaling AI: New Age or Future Winter?

  14 December, 2021

• AI Governance: Less Regulation ─ or More?

  25 November, 2021

• Smart Nation: Privacy Protection and Public Trust

  02 February, 2021

• Artificial Intelligence: Sustaining Singapore’s AI Ambitions

  24 November, 2020

• Pandemic and Beyond: Phishing in a Larger Pond

  15 June, 2020

• COVID-19: What Changes – and What Doesn’t

  17 April, 2020

• Personal Data: Its Value, Risks and Potential

  17 March, 2020

• The Right of Privacy: Death By a Thousand Data Cuts?

  22 March, 2019

• Regulating Artificial Intelligence: An Ethical Approach

  27 November, 2018

Commemorative / Event Reports

• EXTREMISM: OLD PARADIGMS; NEW FRONTIERS

  23 November, 2022

• 13th Asia-Pacific Programme For Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO): National Security In The Age of Disruption

  20 May, 2019

NTS Insight

• Creating Women’s ‘Safe Space’ in Digital Life: Perspectives from Singapore

  30 August, 2023

Authored Books

• Media Law in Singapore. Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell, 2015

Journal Articles

• “Coming to Terms with Smart Contracts Part 2 – Encoding Certainty and Enforceability in Contracts “Ex Machina”” in SAL Practitioner, 26, 2021, 1-22
• ““Coming to Terms with Smart Contracts Part 1 – Fintech Security Challenges and Considerations” [2020] SAL Prac 23” in SAL Practitioner, 2020
• ““The Psychology Behind the Persistence of Phishing” Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020)” in Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020), 2020, 13; 50

Op-Eds

• “Cybersecurity lessons from the pandemic” (with Benjamin Ang), The Business Times, 13 July 2021
• “Someone to Watch Over Me: Trusting Surveillance in Singapore’s ‘Smart Nation’” (with Muhammad Faizal Bin Abdul Rahman), The Diplomat, 26 January 2021
• “Data Brokers: A Weak Link in National Security” (with Dymples Leong), The Diplomat, 21 August 2020

• Panellist, with Minister Josephine Teo and Ms Tammie Tham, CEO Ensign Security Association for Information Security Professionals (AISP), Ladies in Cyber Symposium, 22 March 2022.
• Moderator, “National Security and Emerging Technology: Critical Issues” in RSIS Workshop on National Security and Emerging Technologies, 2 March 2022.
• Trainer for Home Team Academy Senior Command Course. “Disinformation, Fake News, and POFMA: Implications for the Home Team”, 28 February 2022.
• Moderator/discussant for National Security Symposium: Perspectives, Analysis & Discovery (NSSPAD) 2022 with DS/MCI Aaron Maniam , 18 February 2022.
• Speaker, NVIDIA GTC panel “Keeping Up with Global AI Trust Regulations.” November 10, 2021.
• Chair and Moderator, Australian High Commission, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore & RSIS: “Importance of Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement: A Moderated Discussion between Australia’s Toby Feakin and Singapore’s David Koh”, 24 June 2021.
• Panellist, Webinar on “Toward Shared Ethical Standards in AI: American and Singaporean Perspectives” by Pacific Forum and US Embassy Singapore, 16 June 2021.
• Panel Speaker, StratCom Talks: “Data Brokers: Risks and Vulnerabilities” by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, 4 November 2020.
• Chair and Moderator, SICW Conversations 4: “Clean or Open: Perspectives on 5G” at Singapore International Cyber Week 2020 by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, 8 October 2020.
• Chair and Moderator, “COVID-19: Changes and Challenges for Cybersecurity” for the Women in Cyber platform at Singapore International Cyber Week 2020 by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, 7 October 2020.
• Lecturer, “Disinformation and Fake News: Implications for the Home Team”, Home Team Senior Command and Staff Course by the Home Team Academy, 30 September 2020.
• Panel Speaker, IPS Online “Private Data, Public Good” by the Institute of Policy Studies, 13 May 2020 .
• Panel Speaker, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung IGF Panel on “Open and Free and What: Visions for the Future of the Internet” by the Internet Governance Forum 2019; 25 November 2019: Berlin, Germany.
• Guest Lecturer, “Regulating the Present, Looking to the Future: Singapore’s Challenges with Disinformation and Disruptive Technology”, Tallinn University of Technology School of Law, 31 October 2019, Estonia.
• Chair and Moderator, “Women in Cyber” event, Singapore International Cyber Week 2019 by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, 3 October 2019.
• Lecturer, “Disinformation and Fake News: Implications for the Home Team”, Home Team Senior Command and Staff Course by the Home Team Academy, 23 August 2019.
• Speaker, “Digital Access & Cybersecurity Strategies: Economic Growth & Social Development” and “Promoting a Culture of Cybersecurity”, US-Singapore Third Country Training Programme – Workshop on Cybersecurity by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, 16 August 2019.
• Moderator and Discussant, ISAS-KAS Roundtable: “Regulating Artificial Intelligence in South Asia: Projections for the Future” by Institute of South Asian Studies and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 5 August 2019.
• Panel Speaker, “Regulation! Like, Share, Comment?” at the Riga Dialogue 2019 by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, Latvia, 11 June 2019.
• Panel Speaker and Discussant, “Expert Panel on the Future of Data Protection: Directions for Asia“, 8th KAS Alumni Workshop – Strengthening the Data Protection Paradigm: The Road Ahead by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Hongkong, 14 December 2018.
• Panel Speaker and Discussant, “Curbing Negative Effects of Social Media on National Security – A Singapore Perspective“, KAS-ISL Legal Framework for Social Media – International Experience & Relevance for Vietnam Workshop by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung & Institute of State and Law, Vietnam; Hanoi, 13 November 2018.