SINGAPORE — The police on Wednesday (June 10) said that they are investigating a mother and son for uttering racial slurs and vulgarities on social media with the deliberate intent to wound the racial feelings of others.

The son is a 19-year-old Singaporean Malay and his mother is 53 years old.

Between June 3 and 5, the police said that they had received several reports against the duo who did a live Instagram recording on June 3. In the clip, they are heard using an offensive term that denigrates African-Americans as well as vulgar language.

“They had allegedly done so in response to viewers’ comments about a video (the son) had made in 2016 and reposted on his social media account, in which he had used a racial slur,” the police said.

In videos that have since circulated online, the mother and son had justified using the racial slur as a “figure of speech”.

The offence of uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the racial or religious feelings of any person carries a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.

The police said they treat acts that can threaten racial or religious harmony in Singapore very seriously.

“Any person who makes remarks that can cause ill will and hostility between the different races and religions will be dealt with swiftly and firmly.”

On Monday, in a separate case, a 19-year-old permanent resident was arrested for allegedly inciting violence and posting comments on social media with the intention of wounding religious feelings.

The teenager is understood to be a student at Temasek Polytechnic.