Info-communications Media Development Authority (Amendment) Act 2026

This Act is the Info‑communications Media Development Authority (Amendment) Act 2026 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

In the Info-communications Media Development Authority Act 2016 (called in this Act the principal Act), in section 2 —

before the definition of “Authority”, insert —“ “arrangement” includes any formal or informal scheme, arrangement or understanding, and any trust whether express or implied;”;

in the definition of “code of practice”, delete “or standard of performance”;

after the definition of “committee member”, insert —“ “control” includes control as a result of, or by means of, any agreement, arrangement, understanding or practice, whether or not having legal or equitable force and whether or not based on legal or equitable rights;“controller”, in relation to an essential resource, means a person who controls the use of the essential resource and is designated by the Authority as a controller of the essential resource in a manner as will secure adequate notice to that person of the designation;”;

replace the definition of “essential resource” with —“ “essential resource” means any apparatus, accessory, system, service, information or other resource of any kind that is —

used or intended to be used in connection with the provision of any media service; and

specified by the Authority to be an essential resource, of which notice is published or given by the Authority in a manner that will secure adequate publicity or notice of that specification;”;

after the definition of “media”, insert —“ “media resource” means any accessory, apparatus, building, equipment, information, land, machinery, service, structure, system, or other resource of any kind, that is used or intended to be used in connection with the provision of any media service;”;

after the definition of “newspaper company”, insert —“ “newspaper permit” means a permit granted under section 21 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act 1974;“owner”, in relation to an essential resource, means a person who owns the essential resource and is designated by the Authority as an owner of that essential resource in a manner that will secure adequate notice to that person of the person’s designation;”;

delete the definition of “regulated person”; and

before the definition of “telecommunication service”, insert —“ “standard of performance” means a standard of performance issued under section 61;”.

In the principal Act, in Part 7, before section 60, insert —“Interpretation of this Part59.—

In this Part —“30% controller”, in relation to a regulated person or an independent entity mentioned in section 69A, means a person who, alone or together with the person’s associates —

holds 30% or more of the total equity interests in the regulated person or independent entity; or

is in a position to control 30% or more of the voting power in the regulated person or independent entity;“business trust” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Business Trusts Act 2004;“corporation” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;“designated media licensee” means a media licensee —

that is designated by the Authority to be a media licensee for the purposes of this Part; or

that is within a class of media licensees designated by the Authority to be a class of media licensees for the purposes of this Part,and the designation must be notified in the Gazette;“director” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;“effective control”, in relation to a regulated person or an independent entity mentioned in section 69A, means the ability to cause the regulated person or independent entity to take, or to refrain from taking, a major decision regarding the management or operations of the regulated person or independent entity;“entity” means any sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or other body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, and includes a trust;“equity interest” means —

in relation to a corporation — a voting share in that corporation;

in relation to a business trust — a unit in that business trust; and

in relation to any other entity other than a corporation or business trust — any right or interest, whether legal or equitable, in that entity, by whatever name called, which gives the holder of that right or interest voting power in that entity;“media licensee” means —

a person to whom a permit is granted under section 21, 22 or 23 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act 1974;

a holder of a broadcasting licence granted under section 8 or 9 of the Broadcasting Act 1994; or

a holder of a licence granted under section 7 of the Films Act 1981;“Official Receiver” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018;“regulated person” means —

a corporation which publishes a newspaper, the publication of which is authorised under a newspaper permit, including a newspaper company; or

the holder of a broadcasting licence or an entity whose business is regulated by a broadcasting licence, including a trust,that is specified by the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, to be a regulated person;“related corporation” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;“share” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;“subscriber” means an end-user that subscribes to a media service from a media licensee;“treasury share” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;“trustee-manager” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Business Trusts Act 2004;“unit” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Business Trusts Act 2004;“unitholder” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Business Trusts Act 2004;“voting share” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967.

For the purposes of this Part, in relation to a regulated person which is a corporation the whole or any portion of the share capital of which consists of stock, an interest of a person in any such stock is deemed to be an interest in an issued share in the regulated person having the same nominal amount as the amount of that stock and having attached to it the same rights as are attached to that stock.

For the purposes of this Part, a reference to control of a percentage of the voting power in a regulated person is a reference to control of that percentage of the total number of votes that may be cast in —

a general meeting of the regulated person;

in the case of a regulated person that is a business trust — a general meeting of the unitholders of the business trust; or

in the case of a regulated person that is a trust other than a business trust — a general meeting of the beneficiaries of the trust in question.

For the purposes of subsection (3), any control of any voting power by a person in a regulated person is not to be regarded as control of voting power by the person if it is exercisable in the following capacities of the person:

by virtue of the person holding an equity interest in the regulated person as a bare trustee;

if the person’s ordinary business includes the lending of money, by virtue of the person holding an equity interest in the regulated person only by way of security for the purposes of a transaction entered into in the ordinary course of business in connection with the lending of money;

if the person’s ordinary business includes the underwriting of securities, by virtue of the person holding an equity interest in the regulated person only as an underwriter or a sub‑underwriter to any offering of equity interests in the regulated person;

by virtue of the person having been appointed a proxy or representative to vote at a general meeting mentioned in subsection (3);

in the person’s capacity as a liquidator, the Official Receiver, the Official Assignee or the Public Trustee;

by reason of the person holding such other office as may be prescribed for the purposes of section 7(9)(c) of the Companies Act 1967.

In this Part —

a reference to the business of an entity that is a business trust means the business carried on by the trustee‑manager of the business trust on behalf of the business trust; and

a reference to the business of an entity that is a trust (other than a business trust) means the business carried on by the trustee of the trust on behalf of the trust.”.

In the principal Act, after section 60, insert —“What holding an equity interest means60A.—

A person holds an equity interest under this Part if the person —

has or is deemed to have an equity interest in accordance with subsection (2); or

otherwise has a legal or equitable interest in that equity interest,except for any interest that is to be disregarded under subsection (3) or prescribed as an interest that is to be disregarded.

A person is deemed to have an equity interest in an entity if that person —

has entered into a contract to purchase the equity interest; or

is entitled to exercise or control the exercise of a right attached to the equity interest, otherwise than by reason of the person having been appointed a proxy or representative to vote at —

a general meeting of the entity;

in the case of an entity that is a business trust — a general meeting of the unitholders of the business trust; or

in the case of an entity that is a trust other than a business trust — a general meeting of the beneficiaries of the trust in question.

For the purposes of construing an equity interest in this section, the following interests are disregarded:

an equity interest of a person who holds the equity interest as a bare trustee;

an equity interest of a person whose ordinary business includes the lending of money, if the person holds the equity interest only by way of security for the purposes of a transaction entered into in the ordinary course of business in connection with the lending of money;

an equity interest of a person whose ordinary business includes the underwriting of securities, if the person holds the equity interest only as an underwriter or a sub‑underwriter to any offering of equity interest of an entity;

an equity interest of a person —

in the person’s capacity as a liquidator, the Official Receiver, the Official Assignee or the Public Trustee; or

by reason of the person holding such other office as may be prescribed for the purposes of section 7(9)(c) of the Companies Act 1967;

an interest of a corporation in its own shares purchased or otherwise acquired in accordance with sections 76B to 76G of the Companies Act 1967 (including treasury shares);

such interest in a share as may be prescribed for the purposes of section 7(9)(d) of the Companies Act 1967, being an interest of such person, or of a person included in such class of persons, as may be prescribed for the purposes of that provision.

Where the interest relates to an interest in a share, section 7(7), (8) and (10) of the Companies Act 1967 applies in determining whether a person has an equity interest for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3).

Regulations made under section 81 may further provide that any other equity interest is to be disregarded for the purposes of this section.Meaning of “associate”60B. In this Part, a person (A) is an associate of another person (B) if —

A is the spouse, or a parent, step‑parent or remoter lineal ancestor, or a child, step‑child or remoter issue, or a sibling or step‑sibling of B;

A is a corporation whose directors are accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of B or, where B is a corporation, of the directors of B;

B is a corporation whose directors are accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of A or, where A is a corporation, of the directors of A;

A is a person who is accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of B or, where B is a corporation, of the directors of B;

B is a person who is accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of A or, where A is a corporation, of the directors of A;

A is a related corporation of B or B is a related corporation of A;

A is a corporation in which B, alone or together with other associates of B as described in paragraphs (b) to (f), is in a position to control not less than 12% of the voting power in A;

B is a corporation in which A, alone or together with other associates of A as described in paragraphs (b) to (f), is in a position to control not less than 12% of the voting power in B;

A is a person with whom B has an agreement or arrangement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, to act together with respect to the acquisition, holding or disposal of shares, units or other equity interests in, or with respect to the exercise of their voting power in relation to, a regulated person;

A is related to B in such other manner as may be prescribed.”.

In the principal Act, in section 61 —

replace subsection (1) with —“(1) The Authority may —

issue one or more codes of practice, standards of performance or advisory guidelines; or

approve, as a code of practice or standard of performance, any document prepared by a person other than the Authority, if the Authority considers the document to be suitable,for all or any of the purposes set out in subsection (1A).

The purposes of each code of practice, standard of performance or advisory guideline are the following:

to enable and maintain fair and efficient market conduct in the media industry in Singapore;

to safeguard the interests of consumers of media services and of the public generally in relation to the provision of media services;

to provide guidance in relation to the operation or administration of any provision of this Part;

generally for carrying out the purposes of this Part.”;

in subsection (2)(a), delete “and” at the end;

in subsection (2), after paragraph (a), insert —“(aa)specify the rules and procedures that must be complied with by —

each regulated person;

each person who holds any equity interest, or controls any voting power, in a regulated person;

each person who acquires any business of a regulated person that is conducted pursuant to a broadcasting licence or newspaper permit, or any part of any such business, as a going concern; and

each person who obtains effective control over a regulated person;

specify the terms and conditions on which the Authority may grant any written approval under section 65(1), (2) or (3); and”;

in subsections (3)(a) and (b), (6) and (9), after “code of practice” wherever it appears, insert “or standard of performance”;

in subsection (3)(a), replace “subsection (1)” with “subsection (1A)”;

replace subsections (4) and (5) with —“(4) Upon issuing a code of practice or standard of performance under subsection (1), or varying or revoking a code of practice or standard of performance under subsection (3), the Authority must —

publish the code or standard, or any variation or revocation of the code or standard, in a manner that will secure adequate publicity for the code or standard;

specify in the publication the date on which the code or standard, or any variation or revocation of the code or standard, takes effect; and

ensure that the code or standard (including any variation of the code or standard) remains available to the public for access and inspection without charge.

The issue, variation or revocation of a code or standard does not have force or effect until the code or standard, or the variation or revocation of the code or standard, as the case may be, is published in accordance with subsection (4)(a) and (b).”;

in subsections (7)(a) and (b) and (8), replace “code of practice (or any part of it)” with “code of practice or standard of performance (or any part of the code or standard)”; and

in subsection (7)(b), replace “every person who owns or controls an essential resource” with “every person who is an owner or a controller of an essential resource”.

In the principal Act, after section 61, insert —“Directions affecting regulated persons and owners or controllers of essential resources61A.—

For the purposes of maintaining fair and efficient market conduct and effective competition in the media industry in Singapore, or safeguarding consumers’ interests by promoting fair, transparent and reliable provision of media services, the Authority may issue directions to an owner or a controller of an essential resource with respect to the use or sharing of essential resources, or to a regulated person —

to ensure fair and efficient market conduct by the regulated person;

to ensure the coordination and cooperation, on such terms as the Authority may specify, with any other person in the use or sharing of —

any media resource owned or controlled by the regulated person that is used or intended to be used in connection with the provision of any media service in Singapore conducted pursuant to a broadcasting licence or newspaper permit; or

any essential resources; or

in the public interest.

A direction under subsection (1) —

may require the person concerned (according to the circumstances of the case) to do, or to refrain from doing, such things as are specified in the direction, or as are of a description specified in the direction; and

takes effect at such time (being the earliest practicable time) as is determined by or under that direction.

The Authority may at any time vary, suspend or revoke the whole or any part of the direction.

Before issuing the direction to a person, the Authority must, unless the Authority in respect of any particular direction considers that it is not practicable or desirable, give written notice —

stating that the Authority proposes to make the direction and setting out its effect; and

specifying the time within which representations or objections to the proposed direction may be made,and must consider any representations or objections which are duly made.

Every person must comply with every direction of the Authority given to the person under this section.

A reference in this section to the issuing of a direction includes a varying of that direction.”.

In the principal Act, in section 62, replace subsection (3) with —“(3) Any provision of any agreement or decision which is prohibited by subsection (2), is void to the extent that it infringes that subsection.”.

In the principal Act, in section 63 —

in subsections (1)(a), (2) and (3)(a) and (b), after “provision of media services in Singapore”, insert “conducted pursuant to a broadcasting licence or newspaper permit”; and

in subsection (3)(b), replace “, by notification in the Gazette, specify” with “specify, in a manner as will secure adequate publicity or notice,”.