Singapore passes foreign interference law allowing authorities to block internet content

Experts have raised alarm the bill is a tool to crush dissent, with media watchdog saying it carries the seeds of the worst totalitarian leanings'

Singapore's parliament has passed a law aimed at preventing foreign interference in domestic politics, which the opposition and activists have criticised as a tool to crush dissent.

The law, approved after a marathon session that stretched to near midnight on Monday, would allow authorities to compel internet service providers and social media platforms to provide user information, block content and remove applications used to spread content they deem hostile.