SINGAPORE: A 26-year-old man will be charged in court on Wednesday (Apr 24) for his involvement in the publication of an online article which propagated a “false story” of a miscarriage that occurred at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).
The hospital lodged a police report regarding the article in March 2022, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release on Tuesday.
The article, titled The baby is probably dead - Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E, was published on Wake Up Singapore's (WUSG) website as well as its Facebook and Instagram pages.
“The article alleged that KKH’s mismanagement of healthcare services resulted in a female patient suffering a miscarriage after a four-hour wait for COVID-19 treatment and abdominal pains at KKH’s Accident & Emergency Department on Feb 28, 2022,” said SPF.
Upon receiving the police report from KKH, SPF said it consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers and was authorised to investigate the matter.
“Investigations revealed that the 26-year-old man was purportedly the administrator for WUSG’s website, Facebook page and Instagram page. Subsequent investigations found that the allegations in the aforementioned article were untrue.”
The alternative news source was also issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) in March 2022.
"These allegations are false," said the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the time.
"KKH had identified the patient in question, based on a screenshot of a hospital bill accompanying WUSG’s (Wake Up Singapore) posts, which contained discrepancies with the patient’s account of events.
"Subsequent investigations by KKH have confirmed that the patient had been seen by a doctor within an hour of her arrival at KKH in February 2022, and did not suffer any miscarriage."
WUSG published the correction notices on Facebook and Instagram shortly after MOH issued its media release. The original posts have since been taken down.
In a separate apology, the platform then said that it realised that “we may have been fed lies at every turn”.
"We have since realised that her call logs, her invoices, and her correspondence, may have all been doctored," it added.
The man will be charged in court on Wednesday with defamation. If found guilty of defamation, he can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
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The hospital lodged a police report regarding the article in March 2022, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release on Tuesday.
The article, titled The baby is probably dead - Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E, was published on Wake Up Singapore's (WUSG) website as well as its Facebook and Instagram pages.
“The article alleged that KKH’s mismanagement of healthcare services resulted in a female patient suffering a miscarriage after a four-hour wait for COVID-19 treatment and abdominal pains at KKH’s Accident & Emergency Department on Feb 28, 2022,” said SPF.
Upon receiving the police report from KKH, SPF said it consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers and was authorised to investigate the matter.
“Investigations revealed that the 26-year-old man was purportedly the administrator for WUSG’s website, Facebook page and Instagram page. Subsequent investigations found that the allegations in the aforementioned article were untrue.”
The alternative news source was also issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) in March 2022.
"These allegations are false," said the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the time.
"KKH had identified the patient in question, based on a screenshot of a hospital bill accompanying WUSG’s (Wake Up Singapore) posts, which contained discrepancies with the patient’s account of events.
"Subsequent investigations by KKH have confirmed that the patient had been seen by a doctor within an hour of her arrival at KKH in February 2022, and did not suffer any miscarriage."
WUSG published the correction notices on Facebook and Instagram shortly after MOH issued its media release. The original posts have since been taken down.
In a separate apology, the platform then said that it realised that “we may have been fed lies at every turn”.
"We have since realised that her call logs, her invoices, and her correspondence, may have all been doctored," it added.
The man will be charged in court on Wednesday with defamation. If found guilty of defamation, he can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
Continue reading...