Teen avoids charges for faking report of Lee Kuan Yew’s death

SINGAPORE — The teenager behind a fake Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) webpage that falsely announced the death of former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew has been issued a stern warning by the police

The unnamed teenager told authorities he wanted to “demonstrate to his friends how easy it was for a hoax to be perpetuated”, according to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

The police said in a statement today (April 7) the warning was issued in lieu of prosecution, after consulting the AGC. He is a male Singaporean student under 16 years of age.

The AGC said the boy, whose name and identity cannot be published because of his age, did not hack or gain unauthorised access to the PMO website. It added that the teenager, referred to as “Z”, did not intend for his hoax to be widely disseminated.

The AGC said: “Z stated that he created the image because he was frustrated with the frequent rumours about the demise of Mr Lee. Z wanted to demonstrate to his friends how easy it was for a hoax to be perpetuated. Z shared the image with his friends. Less than two minutes later, he informed his friends the image was not an actual photo, but by then the image had been forwarded by one or more of the original recipients.”

The AGC said its decision to administer a stern warning was taken after careful consideration of all relevant factors, including the teenager’s personal circumstances and his readiness to accept responsibility.

The teenager “has been extremely contrite and deeply regrets the inconvenience and embarrassment his conduct has caused”, it said. “He had cooperated fully with the police and explained the circumstances that led to his creation of the photograph,” the AGC said.

Mr Lee died in the early hours of March 23. The image falsely announcing his death started circulating widely online on the evening of March 18. The false report fooled several international media outlets, which erroneously tweeted news of Mr Lee’s death and broadcasted reports on their channels.

Subsequently, CNN corrected its report and deleted its tweet, while Hong Kong-based Phoenix New Media apologised for making a “big mistake”. Chinese broadcaster CCTV also deleted an erroneous tweet and issued a clarification on its official Weibo account.

The police said previously that they established the teenager’s identiy within 24 hours of the fake page being published.

Today, the AGC warned that disseminating false information can be a serious criminal offence, “especially if the originator knows that the information is false”.

It added: “Netizens should be aware that the careless, or deliberate dissemination of false information can have serious consequences for the public at large. Sometimes it can even cause widespread panic.”