Borrowing Berlo: Singapore’s Evolving Approach to Online Harms
a Brownbag lunch with
Dr Han-Ei CHEW, Visiting Fellow, Quello Center, Michigan State University.
Tuesday September 2, 2025, 12-1 PM EDT
In-Person CAS 405
Please Register HERE
Singapore has developed one of the most comprehensive legal frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region to address online harms, spanning issues such as misinformation, cyber harassment, and image-based sexual abuse. In recent years, legislative efforts have taken on a more consultative approach, incorporating more public consultations and expert roundtables in the policymaking process. This includes the forthcoming Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill, which aims to provide civil remedies for victims of online harms.
This talk offers an overview of Singapore’s evolving regulatory landscape and introduces a working policy brief that adapts Berlo’s SMCR communication model as a taxonomy to classify online harm laws by their regulatory function. The session seeks to contribute to broader conversations on making digital safety policy more inclusive, and accessible.
Dr Han-Ei CHEW leads the Governance & Economy cluster at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in Singapore, where he oversees the Institute’s longest-standing research unit. His work centers on quantitative policy research, with a strong interest in online harms, digital trust, and the societal dimensions of technology adoption. He has led multiple national and international studies and works closely with public agencies to translate research into policy outcomes.
Outside of IPS, Han-Ei serves on the board of SG Her Empowerment (SHE), a non-profit dedicated to advancing gender equality and supporting those affected by online harms. He is also a pro bono Research Consultant to UNESCO, where he co-authored reports including Reading in the Mobile Era and I’d Blush If I Could — one of the first international publications to highlight gender biases in AI voice assistants.
Han-Ei holds a PhD in Media and Information Studies from Michigan State University and is especially pleased to return to his alma mater as a Visiting Fellow. At the Quello Center, his work focuses on the evolving concept of digital trust — exploring how confidence in digital systems is built or eroded, and what this means for public policy, governance, and user behaviour.
He also writes The Chart Doctor Has Issues, a Substack that critiques how data is visualized and communicated in the public sphere — part of his broader interest in making policy-relevant research accessible and communicated with clarity.