Ever since Covid-19 took the world by storm, online falsehoods have been spread rapidly by ‘WhatsApp Experts‘. In this case, sharing a false message had immense consequences for one individual.
A Singaporean man who shared false info sourced from a WhatsApp text landed him a 4-month jail term.
Mr Lai had been charged with spreading rumours about supermarkets & coffeeshops closing during the ‘Circuit Breaker’, reports Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
The taxi driver, Kenneth Lai Yong Hui, 40, pleaded guilty to transmitting a false message, according to Yahoo News.
He posted the false rumours on the “Taxiuncle” Facebook group, spreading the information to 7,478 members.
The message claimed that supermarkets would be open for 2 days of the week, and that all hawker centres and coffeeshops would be required to close during the ‘Circuit Breaker’.
Lastly, the message urged readers to “stock up” on essentials and food.
Mr Lai told the court that he saw a message in a WhatsApp group chat between 15-16 Apr claiming hawker centres and coffeeshops would be closing.
According to Mr Lai, he was informed that the virus could be “transmitted” via “disposable food containers”.
He did not verify the message, and ended up spreading false news on Facebook.
CNA wrote that the original message could not be recovered from Mr Lai’s phone. He was unable to identify who sent the original message either.
The court heard that Mr Lai knew the message was fake, yet posted it on Facebook.
Later, he confessed that he started the rumour about supermarkets closing 2 days a week.
Soon after Mr Lai put up the post, a few members of the group commented that he should not spread false news, lest he cause more panic buying.
Mr Lai deleted the post 15 minutes later.
A man who wished to be known only as James, reported the fake post to the police on 20 Apr, providing evidence of its contents, wrote Yahoo News.
He urged the police to investigate the case, concerned that it would cause Singaporeans to panic about the situation.
Mr Lai was sentenced to 4 months’ jail, as District Judge Seah Chi-Ling agreed that spreading falsehoods online was “very serious in light of the current health crises”.
When Mr Lai asked for a lighter sentence, the judge re-emphasised the gravity of the offence, and denied the request.
Mr Lai promised that he would “never, never do such a thing again”.
This case serves as a timely reminder that we must always verify the validity of information before passing it on.
Spreading accurate and useful information is crucial to maintaining order in society, and it’s vital to adhere to these guidelines as we reopen our economy & heartlands.
Always turn to reliable sources like Gov.sg’s WhatsApp or Telegram channels for information.
After all, they’re the real ‘WhatsApp Experts’.
Featured image adapted from Salary.sg.
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