Google and Apple ordered to stop fake government TXTs

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Asia in Brief Singapore’s government last week told Google and Apple to prevent fake government messages.

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced it had sent the tech giants Implementation Directives that require them to prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names which spoof “gov.sg” or Singapore Government agencies and also filter such messages.

A second measure requires Google and Apple to “Ensure the profile names of unknown senders are not displayed or are displayed less prominently than their phone numbers. This would help users better identify and be wary of unknown senders.”

The Directives apply to Apple’s iMessage service and Google Messages, and mean those services now have the same regulatory requirements as SMS messages. It also means the tech giants face ...