--- title: "People in Singapore Furious About Robot Cops That Lecture People on Social Distancing" description: "Singapore has rolled out robot cops meant to catch residents in the act of not following social distancing guidelines — and Singaporeans are fed up." date: "2021-10-06" modified: "2021-10-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/singapore-robot-cops" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "government surveillance" - "robots" - "singapore" - "the digest" --- # People in Singapore Furious About Robot Cops That Lecture People on Social Distancing ![Singapore has rolled out robot cops meant to catch residents in the act of not following social distancing guidelines — and Singaporeans are fed up.]() *\Image: Then Chih Wey/Xinhua via Getty Images/Futurism\* ## RoboNarc Singapore has rolled out robot cops meant to catch residents in the act of not following social distancing guidelines or engaging in "undesirable social behavior" such as smoking, [*Agence France-Presse* reports]() — and Singaporeans are fed up. Two robots were [tasked with patrolling a housing estate and shopping mall]() for three weeks in September, making sure residents were parking their bicycles in the right place and smoking only in dedicated areas. "Please keep one-meter distancing, please keep to five persons per group," one of the robots blurted out at some innocent elderly bystanders, as quoted by *AFP*. Locals told the news agency of how the experience reminds them of "Robocop," and calls to mind a "dystopian world." "It all contributes to the sense people... need to watch what they say and what they do in Singapore to a far greater extent than they would in other countries," activist Lee Yi Ting told *AFP*. ## Big Brother Officials say the robots aren't actually identifying offenders during the trial. Besides, they say, the small nation is going through a labor crunch and law enforcement is struggling to find enough staff to patrol streets. Government surveillance has immense reach in Singapore. Even COVID-related contact-tracing data was handed to the police earlier this year, [resulting in fierce backlash](). In September, officials also [deployed robot dogs]() to patrol a public park in Singapore, prompting a similar reaction. It's indeed a dystopian vision of the future in which the government has eyes on almost every facet of public life, and a reality that's becoming increasingly difficult to evade for locals. **READ MORE:** [‘Dystopian world’: Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state]() \[*Agence France-Presse*\] **More on Singapore:** *[Singapore Deploys Multiple Robot Cops to Police Public Areas]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()