The annual report evaluated six social media services – Facebook, HardwareZone, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube – on how thoroughly and effectively their measures met the Code of Practice for Online Safety.
It also raised concerns about child safety, noting that children could still access age-inappropriate content on several platforms.
Mrs Teo said age assurance measures to better verify users’ ages online will be implemented as part of enhancements to the online safety regulations.
“You need to be able to tell quite accurately the age of the user, in order for whatever protections you intend to apply to them, to be actually made available,” she said.
Additional safeguards under consideration include tighter controls on platform features such as direct messaging and autoplay, which may expose users, especially youths, to harmful interactions or excessive use.
Mrs Teo added that authorities are prepared to take stronger action if platforms fail to meet safety standards.
“If a particular service, just like a particular make of a car, is not safe to use, you must seriously then think about taking it off, and so that’s the kind of approach that we are prepared to take.
“We would have to look at the specific design of the service, we would have to look specifically at the kind of child safety features that can be introduced and then we will assess.
“If we need to take this vehicle off the road, we may have to,” she said.
At the same time, she acknowledged the complexities of regulation, including challenges such as migration to other platforms and difficulties in enforcing age-based restrictions.