Student gets stern warning for posting fake announcement on Lee Kuan Yew's death

A male Singapore student below the age of 16 got a stern warning from the police for posting a fake death announcement on former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew on 18 March.

"In consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Police have issued [the culprit] with a stern warning in lieu of prosecution," said a police statement.

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) confirmed that the Prime Minister’s Office website was not hacked or accessed illegally.

In a statement referring to the teen as "Z", the AGC said the teen had not intended for the message to go viral.

"Crucially, Z never intended his 'hoax' message to be widely disseminated. Z asserts 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," said the AGC’s statement.

"Z shared the image with his friends. Within two minutes thereafter, 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 statement continued.

The viral image fooled some international news outlets including CNN and Chinese broadcaster CCTV. It also outraged many Singaporeans.

The stern warning was issued in the presence of the teen’s parents, said the AGC.

He could have been fined up to $50,000 or jailed up to 10 years or both under Section 4(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, Chapter 50A.