Singapore Orders Apple, Google To Prevent Government Spoofing on Messaging Platforms (reuters.com)
(Tuesday November 25, 2025 @11:42AM (msmash)
from the holding-accountable dept.)
- Reference: 0180206553
- News link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/11/25/1446250/singapore-orders-apple-google-to-prevent-government-spoofing-on-messaging-platforms
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-orders-apple-google-prevent-government-spoofing-messaging-platforms-2025-11-25/
An anonymous reader shares a report:
> Singapore's police have ordered Apple and Google to [1]prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms , the home affairs ministry said on Tuesday. The order under the nation's Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple's iMessage and Google Messages purporting to be from companies such as the local postal service SingPost. While government agencies have registered with a local SMS registry so only they can send messages with the "gov.sg" name, this does not currently apply to the iMessage and Google Messages platforms.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-orders-apple-google-prevent-government-spoofing-messaging-platforms-2025-11-25/
> Singapore's police have ordered Apple and Google to [1]prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms , the home affairs ministry said on Tuesday. The order under the nation's Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple's iMessage and Google Messages purporting to be from companies such as the local postal service SingPost. While government agencies have registered with a local SMS registry so only they can send messages with the "gov.sg" name, this does not currently apply to the iMessage and Google Messages platforms.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-orders-apple-google-prevent-government-spoofing-messaging-platforms-2025-11-25/
Just ban (Score:2)
by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )
Should be easy enough to ban .gov.sg from Messages.
Fix the Headline (Score:3)
I thought that Singapore was ordering them not to allow the government to send spoof messages, and thought, "How refreshing!" Nope.
Re: (Score:2)
Twitter used to do this with the verified badges, but then Elon started selling them and they became the mark of someone stupid enough to give him money for a blue tick.
It's not a bad idea in principle. A simple cryptographic certificate that government agencies can use to validate their messages. The hardest part will be the UI. Making sure it is clear and not easily spoofed.