A Meta spokesperson said the company was “dismayed” by the statements in parliament, saying the tech giant has been in “close consultations” with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is “reviewing their suggestions seriously”.
“This is on top of the years of consistent and close collaboration we have with the Singapore Police Force to tackle scams and our role as a Council Member of the National Crime Prevention Council,” it added.
“However, scams are a complex, industry-wide threat, and we recognise that no single solution or company can tackle them alone.
“We are committed to continue working closely with government partners on consumer education campaigns and will continue to evolve our products and tools to help people better protect themselves against scams.”
A total of 9,783 e-commerce scams were reported in Singapore last year – more than double the 4,762 cases the year before – with victims losing a combined S$13.9 million (US$10.3 million). Close to half of the scams were on Facebook, said Ms Sun.
She also noted that Facebook Marketplace was ranked lowest in an anti-scam rating system for the second consecutive year.
As part of the E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings (TSR), popular e-commerce platforms are rated on their measures to safeguard users against scams.
Facebook has a safety rating of one tick, compared with platforms like Amazon, Lazada and Qoo10 which have the highest rating of four ticks.
Ms Sun said Facebook is the only platform in the TSR that has not implemented, or started to implement, recommended safety features.
Platforms like Shopee and Carousell, on the other hand, are working with MHA and the police to fight scams, she pointed out.