Speakers

Guest of Honour

Mdm Rahayu Mahzam is the Minister of State at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, where she focuses on the Ministry’s digital inclusivity efforts and protection of Singaporeans against online harms.

She also co-chaired the Singapore Together Alliance for Action to tackle online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls.

Panel 1

Natalie Chia is Director of Research at SG Her Empowerment (SHE), an independent non-profit supporting girls and women in online and offline spaces.

Regarding online safety, SHE develops insights on the prevalence, impact, and long-term effects of online harms, focusing on survivors’ help-seeking behaviours and system-wide responses in Singapore. SHE’s research informs its programmes – including its online harms support centre SHECARES.

Kai Xiang Teo is a journalist with The Straits Times, covering subcultures and emerging trends for the Life desk. His stories span everything from image-based sexual abuse to nightlife to what Singapore would look like for those born today.

Prior to working at ST, he had stints at Business Insider, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism and Yahoo Singapore, and was a postgraduate Chevening Scholar.

Dr. Michelle Ho is an Assistant Professor of Feminist and Queer Cultural Studies in the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore, and is on the Steering Committee of the Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster (GSRC). Her research interests lie in gender and sexuality and their intersections with media and culture in contemporary Asia.

Crispina Robert is a veteran journalist whose career spans newspapers, magazines, education, and podcasting. She began her career at The New Paper, edited Young Parents magazine, took a teaching detour at a local polytechnic and then joined CNA, where she set up its podcast unit in 2022.

She is now dabbling with entrepreneurship as host of the Type A podcast, which discusses the impact of technology on society, business and culture.

Panel 2

Sugidha Nithi is a lawyer with more than 15 years of experience in private practice as a litigator and corporate lawyer. She also helmed the Tolaram Group’s infrastructure project in Africa for 10 years as its General Counsel – the award-winning Lekki Port project.

Sugidha was a long-time volunteer with AWARE before becoming AWARE’s Director for Advocacy and Research in 2023.

Dr Priyanka Bhalla is the Head of Safety Policy for Meta in APAC and is based in Singapore.

Previous to Meta, she worked for fifteen years in the international development and humanitarian space, with numerous UN agencies and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Her focus was always addressing child and women’s protection concerns with an emphasis on gender-based violence prevention, youth well-being and mental health.

Edward Wee is a seasoned Online Trust and Safety leader with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors.

He is currently the Director of Online Safety and Content Regulation at the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, where he leads the development and operationalisation of Singapore’s online safety and internet content regulations.

Dr Carol Soon is Associate Professor (Practice) and Deputy Head at the Department of Communications and New Media (CNM) in the National University of Singapore.

She is Vice Chair of the Media Literacy Council. Her research interests are in media regulation and digital policy, social media governance, digital literacy and policy communication.

Closing Speaker

Bryan serves as the Acting Head of Advocacy at Youth Tech Institute, the advocacy branch of YouthTechSG (formerly known as Cyber Youth Singapore), a registered charity focused on empowering youths with skills and opportunities to shape Singapore’s digital future.