Penal Code, Distributing or Threatening to Distribute Intimate Image or Recording
Penal Code 1871, s. 377BE (Distributing or Threatening to Distribute Intimate Image or Recording)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not intentionally or knowingly distribute, or knowingly threaten to distribute, an image or recording of a person's intimate depiction without that person's consent, where doing so is known or is reason to be believed likely to cause humiliation, alarm or distress.
- This prohibition reaches an image or recording that has been digitally altered or AI-generated to appear to show a person's intimate depiction, not only an authentic one, unless no reasonable person would believe it depicts that person.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years, or a fine, or caning, or any combination of such punishments (s. 377BE(3)); where the depicted person is below 14 years of age, imprisonment which may extend to 5 years and also a mandatory fine or caning (s. 377BE(4)). The section does not state a maximum fine amount.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 377BE makes it an offence for any person to intentionally or knowingly distribute, or knowingly threaten to distribute, an intimate image or recording of another person without that person's consent, knowing or having reason to believe the distribution or threat will or is likely to cause humiliation, alarm or distress.
The section was inserted by the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 (Act 15 of 2019); the specific day section 377BE itself came into operation is not confirmed in the primary text and so is not stated here.
Section 377BE(5)(b), most recently amended with effect from 17 August 2026, defines an intimate image or recording to include an image or recording in any form that has been altered or generated to appear to show a person's intimate depiction, excluding an image so altered or generated that no reasonable person would believe it depicts that person; the section's own illustration is a face copied and pasted onto another body to appear that the person engaged in a sexual act.
A person convicted is liable to imprisonment for up to 5 years, or a fine, or caning, or a combination, rising to a mandatory fine or caning alongside imprisonment where the depicted person is below 14 years of age.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
official consolidated Act text, Singapore Statutes Online (SSO)