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SINGAPORE - A new law banning fake or digitally altered online material that misrepresents candidates will be in place for the first time this general election, said the Elections Department on April 15.

Announcing campaign guidelines on April 15, ELD said that the rules related to online campaigning would protect prospective candidates who have paid their election deposit and consented for their candidature to be made public.

“These rules, which will be in place for the first time in GE2025, serve to uphold the truthfulness of representation during an Election,” it said in a statement.

The campaigning period will start after nomination proceedings end on Nomination Day, April 23, and run all the way until Cooling-off Day on May 2. Singaporeans will head to the polls on May 3.

The date of the election was announced on April 15 shortly after President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, acting on the advice of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, dissolved Singapore’s 14th Parliament.

Here are the guidelines for campaigning as Singapore gears up for the election:

No new banners, flags, and posters before campaign period

No new banners, flags, and posters that constitute election advertising are allowed to be displayed until the end of nomination proceedings on April 23, said ELD.

Town Councils and other organisations may already have visual displays in public spaces — such as banners with messages like “Welcome to (estate name)” — that include the name, image, or political party symbol of individuals who could be prospective candidates.

While these are part of regular publicity efforts and not related to elections, they may be mistaken by the public as election advertising, said ELD.

As a result, the display of such materials will be regulated from April 15, said ELD. However, these existing banners, flags, and posters can remain on display if they meet the following conditions:

• They were lawfully and publicly put up in the constituency before the Writ of Election was issued on April 15
• They have not been relocated, changed, or modified since then; and
• They are declared to the Returning Officer within 12 hours of the Wri...