The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2025 (“Act“) was passed in Parliament on 4 November 2025. The Act introduced amendments to the Penal Code and other legislation to ensure that Singapore’s criminal laws remain effective, fair, and responsive to emerging challenges.
The first tranche of amendments came into effect on 30 December 2025. The second tranche of amendments has now come into effect on 17 August 2026. Amongst other changes, it introduces a range of amendments relating to provisions in the Penal Code on sexual offences, as well as provisions on doxxing of public servants.
Offences Relating to Obscene Objects
Section 292 of the Penal Code, which criminalises a range of acts relating to obscene objects, including sale and distribution, has been amended to address the large-scale electronic circulation of such objects.
This includes the following amendments:
- Enhanced penalties currently applicable to obscene objects depicting minors below the age of 16 will be extended to cover minors below the age of 18.
- Enhanced penalties will apply to the large-scale electronic circulation of obscene objects to ten or more persons.
- A new offence has been introduced targeting those who set up or manage online locationswith the intent of facilitating such large-scale electronic circulation. This includes digital platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram group chats and channels, websites and blogs, and channels on video-sharing platforms such as YouTube.
Intimate Images and Child Abuse Material
The Act also amends provisions relating to offences concerning intimate images and child abuse material, updating them to take into account computer and artificial intelligence (“AI“)-generated materials. Among other changes, the amendments serve to:
extend the definition of intimate images to include synthetic AI-generated materials;
introduce a new offence of producing intimate images, including AI-generated materials, without consent; and
- clarify that the definition of child abuse material covers computer-generated child abuse material.
Doxxing of Public Servants
The Act amends the offence of doxxing a public servant or public service worker such that it is no longer necessary to prove that the victim suffered harassment, alarm, or distress, so long as the offender had the intention to harass. In addition, a new offence criminalises the doxxing of a public servant when accompanied by a falsehood about the public servant.
Click on the following link for more information:
- Press Release titled “Commencement of the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2025” (available on the Ministry of Home Affairs website at www.mha.gov.sg)
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