Website that falsely claimed to have MFA links blocked by Singapore police

The websites of two other entities that described themselves as a Singapore-headquartered consultancy and think-tank were also no longer accessible.

SINGAPORE: Three websites that were flagged by CNA as having false links to Singapore institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), were no longer accessible as of Thursday (Aug 20).

The Singapore police ordered the website of Global Asia Think Tank to be blocked, while two others – Great Vision consultancy and Afforesight – were believed to have been taken down by their site owners.

In response to CNA’s queries, the Singapore Police Force said on Friday that they had issued an access blocking direction under the Online Criminal Harms Act to the Global Asia Think Tank website.

This comes after an assessment of information arising from a police report lodged by MFA.

NO LINKS

Global Asia Think Tank said on its website that it was supported by MFA and had worked with both the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) at the National University of Singapore, and the Nanyang Technological University’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).

MFA told CNA that it does not and has not supported Global Asia and said claims by both Global Asia and Great Vision were “misrepresentations”.

The foreign affairs ministry said previously that it had contacted the websites to remove the false references to it, and would take further action if the requests were not complied with.

A LKYSPP said the claims on Global Asia’s website were false, and that it has “no relationship” with the entity. An RSIS representative also said it has “no knowledge” of Global Asia.

Great Vision claimed to be a consultancy headquartered in Singapore, and was trying to hire former Singaporean diplomats. It also targeted candidates who have worked at think-tanks in Singapore.

Afforesight also called itself an independent think-tank in Singapore, but a visit to the address listed on its website led to a research facility operated by a pharmaceutical firm. There were no signs of any such entity.

MP Yip Hon Weng (PAP-Yio Chu Kang), who is the chair of the defence and foreign affairs government parliamentary committee, told CNA he has filed a parliamentary question about this issue.

He will ask about the safeguards preventing foreign actors from exploiting Singapore as a base for covert intelligence gathering and how authorities take action against entities suspected of facilitating such activities.

Mr Yip, who is also chairman of the Digital Defence Alliance Singapore advisory council, said these fake think-tanks and consultancies deserve attention beyond the immediate question of who’s behind them.

"What concerns me is what this tells us about how the terrain of intelligence collection is changing," he wrote on LinkedIn.

"The most valuable target may no longer be the classified document, but the mental map: how a former diplomat reads a crisis, where an analyst thinks ASEAN consensus might fracture, which arguments resonate within government, or how particular personalities and relationships shape decisions."

There is a second, less obvious risk, he said, and that is a fabricated institution need not only extract knowledge, but it can eventually shape it.

“Recruit a few credible experts, publish legitimate analysis alongside carefully curated material, convene discussions, and a synthetic organisation can gradually acquire real world legitimacy. The lines between espionage, influence and what we might call ‘knowledge laundering’ then begin to blur,” he added.