Police probe Telegram chat groups suspected of sharing photos of S’porean women, schoolgirls without their consent

• The groups have thousands of followers each
• They circulated screengrabs of women’s social media accounts and TikTok clips of girls in school uniform
• Over 1,500 people have signed a petition to shut down the groups

SINGAPORE — A police report has been filed over several Telegram chat groups suspected of sharing photos and videos of Singaporean women and schoolgirls — some of them obscene — apparently without their consent, akin to the now-defunct SG Nasi Lemak.

The chat groups, with thousands of followers each, also circulated screengrabs of women’s social media accounts and TikTok clips of girls in school uniform. Some also contain their personal information.

On Tuesday (March 30), the police confirmed that a report has been lodged and said investigations are ongoing.

The report was filed by National University of Singapore (NUS) political science undergraduate Nisha Rai, who has created an online petition calling for these groups to be shut down by the authorities.

More than 1,500 people had signed the petition as of Tuesday evening.

The 21-year-old told TODAY that she came across a Twitter thread chronicling the groups’ activities and was sickened by the obscene pictures from the women’s social media accounts that appear to be screen grabbed and shared without consent.

In October 2019, four men were arrested for their involvement in the Telegram chat group SG Nasi Lemak, where videos and photographs of mostly Singaporean women and girls were shared among its more than 44,000 members.

Its 39-year-old administrator was sentenced in a district court to nine weeks’ jail and a fine of S$26,000 earlier this month.

Two other members have been sentenced to probation for distributing obscene material in the group, while the case of another administrator is pending.

Ms Rai said she is currently working with a group of 20 individuals who have been tracking down victims — they have contacted 30 so far — to lend them support.

To date, they have also compiled a list of 60 such chat groups, she said.

Student-run group Students for a Safer NUS (SafeNUS) on Monday called for support to be given to Ms Rai’s petition.

In a statement on its social media accounts, SafeNUS said it is aware of the presence of these Telegram chat groups that have been engaging in “image-based sexual violence”.

“With the resurgence of these Telegram groups, it is imperative that we highlight how prevalent the issue of image-based sexual violence appears to have become in Singapore.

“The recurring nature of these groups, some with thousands of users, indicates the persistent and widespread phenomenon of image-based sexual violence in our society,” the group added.

“This demonstrates how consent is either willingly breached or heavily misunderstood by not just individual perpetrators but in a significant portion of our society.”

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) on Tuesday said the rash of new groups is not surprising given that only a handful of SG Nasi Lemak members were arrested.

“It seemed safe to assume that those who had not suffered any repercussions would simply continue elsewhere,” the group wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Aware added that its sexual assault care centre has seen an increase in the number of instances of technology-facilitated sexual violence — which constitute sexual voyeurism and the non-consensual sharing of images — with the figure hitting 140 in 2019.

“We have witnessed the harassment, intimidation, stalking and threats that often accompany the obtaining and sharing of intimate images. We have also witnessed shame, confusion and depression (including suicidal ideation) on the part of victims.

“Victims worry that the images will ruin their professional and family lives; they incur significant costs in order to get the images taken down, or avoid taking public transportation,” said Aware.

Ms Rai said her biggest concern is the impact this has on victims.

“It’s not their fault a crazy person decides to circulate their pictures for whatever reason and break their trust. At a personal level, I really wanted to reach out to them as much as possible and try to find the perpetrators.”

Over the years, many Telegram chat groups dedicated to sharing obscene material have continued to emerge.

Adult offenders convicted of transmitting or possessing obscene material can be jailed for up to three months or fined, or receive both penalties.

Those convicted of possessing obscene films can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$20,000, or both.