Adoption of Children Act 2022 · Updated to 15 Oct 2024 · Part 6 · Regulation of Adoption Practices and Processes
51. Restriction on publication or broadcast of information or pictures of children for adoption, etc.
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
This section applies to the publication or broadcast of any information or picture that identifies a child, or is likely to lead to the identification of a child, where —
child
“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
the child is in Singapore;
the intended audience or recipients of the information or picture is or are predominantly in Singapore; or
the publication or broadcast is by an adoption agency.
Except with the prior approval of the Guardian‑in‑Adoption, a person must not, in the course of doing any of the following, publish or broadcast any information or picture that identifies any child or is likely to lead to the identification of any child:
Guardian-in-Adoption
“Guardian-in-Adoption” means the Guardian‑in‑Adoption appointed under section 8;
communicating that a relevant person of a child desires to cause the child to be adopted;
advertising or promoting any service of making arrangements for or on behalf of another person for the adoption of a child by that other person;
making arrangements for or on behalf of another person for the adoption of a child by that other person.
Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to any information or picture broadcast by a person (A) to any other person (B) who has communicated to A that B desires to adopt a child if the information or picture —
is broadcast upon B’s request; and
is broadcast through such means and with such safeguards as to cause the information or picture to be accessible only by B (and any other person in B’s position).
If subsection (3) applies and B publishes or broadcasts the information or picture broadcast by A, B shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
If any information or picture is published or broadcast in contravention of subsection (2) —
in the case of the publication of any information or picture as part of a newspaper or periodical publication — every proprietor, editor, publisher or distributor of the newspaper or periodical publication;
in the case of the publication of any information or picture otherwise than as part of a newspaper or periodical publication — every person who publishes or distributes it; or
in the case of the broadcast of any information or picture —
every person who broadcasts the information or picture;
every person who transmits or provides the programme in which the information or picture is broadcast; and
every person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of the editor of a newspaper or periodical publication,shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
The court may, in addition to any punishment mentioned in subsection (4) or (5), order a person to do any one or more of the following:
court
“court” means the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court, or any court hearing an appeal against an order or a decision of the Family Division of the High Court or a Family Court, except in sections 48, 51, 66, 69, 70, 72 and 73 where “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;
remove the publication or stop the broadcast, of any information or picture that is in contravention of subsection (2) or (4);
remove the programme in which the information or picture that is broadcast in contravention of subsection (2) or (4) is broadcast;
delete the information or picture that is published or broadcast in contravention of subsection (2) or (4);
take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information or picture that is published or broadcast in contravention of subsection (2) or (4) is no longer available on or through the Internet.
Terms defined in s 2
child
Defined · s 2“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
court
Defined · s 2“court” means the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court, or any court hearing an appeal against an order or a decision of the Family Division of the High Court or a Family Court, except in sections 48, 51, 66, 69, 70, 72 and 73 where “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;
Guardian-in-Adoption
Defined · s 2“Guardian-in-Adoption” means the Guardian‑in‑Adoption appointed under section 8;
relevant person
Defined · s 2“relevant person”, in relation to a child, or a protected person mentioned in Part 5, means any person who —(a)is a parent or guardian of the child or protected person;(b)has actual custody of the child or protected person; or(c)is liable to contribute to the support of the child or protected person;
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Enforcement
Part 8
General Provisions
Part 9