Remove a HardwareZone thread about you

Why EDMW threads are hard to ignore

HardwareZone began as a technology forum, but its Eat-Drink-Man-Woman subforum became one of the busiest places in Singapore to discuss viral incidents, relationships and people in the news. One post can grow to dozens of pages, with users digging up a person’s LinkedIn, Instagram and old photos. The pages are indexed quickly and often outrank your own profiles on your name.

HardwareZone has legal duties other forums do not

The forums are run by Hardware Zone Pte Ltd, part of SPH Media. Two regimes apply to them, which is why a precise report carries weight here:

• IMDA Code of Practice for Online Safety (in force since 18 July 2023): HardwareZone is one of six designated social media services, with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube, and must give users an effective way to report harmful content.
• Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025: HardwareZone Forums is a prescribed platform. It must act on an online harm notice within 48 hours for harms such as doxxing or harassment, and within 24 hours for intimate images (6 hours where the image exposes genitals or breasts).

Posts moderators take down

• Posts giving a named person’s HDB block and unit, phone number, partial NRIC, employer or a family member’s details
• Threads speculating about a named private person’s sex life, with or without photos
• Accusations of cheating, theft or scams presented as fact without proof
• Photos lifted from your private Instagram or Facebook and reposted with mocking captions
• Accounts using your name or picture to post as you

Commentary on something you really did in public, such as a viral road-rage clip, is usually left up. We tell you that before you pay, and suggest what can still be done, such as removing your workplace or plate number from the replies.

How a HardwareZone removal works

1. Assessment, reply within 24 hours. You send the thread URLs through the contact form. We read every page and list the posts that break the rules, including quotes of the original post buried in replies, which moderators often miss.
2. Proof first. We capture screenshots showing dates and times, with the URLs, before reporting: this is what the OSC, the police or a lawyer will ask for later.
3. Reports to the moderators. Each post is reported with the specific rule broken and the exact passage, so moderators can act without reading forty pages. Action starts within 48 hours of payment.
4. Escalation to the operator. If nothing happens, we write to the operator, citing its terms of use and its duties as a prescribed platform and designated service.
5. Search results. Removed threads can stay on Google for weeks. We request a refresh of each URL and look for scraper sites that copied the thread.

When the Online Safety Commission is the faster route

If a thread publishes your identity information to expose or humiliate you, that is doxxing, an offence under POHA s 3(1)(c), and you can report it directly to the Online Safety Commission at no cost. In September 2026 a doxxing post was removed from a forum by an OSC Access Disabling Direction. For harassment, report to HardwareZone first and keep proof; if it has not responded adequately within 24 hours, the OSC can step in. Citizens, PRs and valid pass holders, including Work Permit and S Pass holders, are eligible. Please use it.

We cover what it does not: false accusations and reputational attacks (a later phase), old threads, copies on other sites and Google. Legal letters also work here; in 2019 defamatory threads about a Singaporean were removed after legal action. We are not a law firm, so we tell you when to see a lawyer.

Prices

One thread or post costs S$42, with action started within 48 hours. Long threads with copies elsewhere usually fit the 3-link pack at S$99 or the 10-link pack at S$286, with action within 24 hours and a removal report. Fixed prices, no extra fees, secure card payment via Stripe. For Reddit and Stomp, see our page on forum posts about you, or the pricing page.