A Trust-Compromising Shift Towards Autocracy in Singapore:

The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act of 2021

Abstract

Amid the increasingly prevalent challenge of modern information warfare, Singapore passed a controversial law empowering its  government to censure anyone or anything believed to have ties with foreign entities. The broad scope of the legislation has raised fears among many Singaporeans regarding their freedoms of expression and political contestation, especially given our world’s thorough interconnectedness. Understanding critics’ worries, however, requires an investigation into Singapore’s history and political culture of periodic authoritarian episodes in the name of uninhibited economic prosperity.