SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Singapore government

said on Thursday it has given Meta Platforms ( META ) until the

end of this month to introduce measures including facial

recognition to help curb impersonation scams on Facebook.

Meta faces a fine of up to S$1 million ($776,639) if it

fails to comply "without reasonable excuse", the ministry of

home affairs said in a statement, adding failure to do so would

result in fines of up to S$100,000 for each day after the

deadline.

The ministry said the directive was issued to Meta on

Wednesday. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Earlier this month, Singapore's police ordered Meta to implement

anti-scam measures against advertisements, accounts, profiles

and business pages impersonating key government office holders

on its Facebook platform. That order did not come with a

deadline.

The ministry said it saw an increase in instances of

scammers exploiting Facebook for impersonation scams between

June 2024 and June this year, using videos or images of

government office holders in fake advertisements, accounts,

profiles and business pages.

"While Meta has taken steps to address the risk of

impersonation scams globally, including in Singapore, the home

affairs ministry and the Singapore police force remain concerned

by the prevalence of such scams in Singapore," said the

ministry.

It was the first such order issued under the nation's new

Online Criminal Harms Act, which came into force in February

2024.

($1 = 1.2876 Singapore dollars)