Australian woman jailed for sedition in Singapore over fake news stories

（THEGUARDIAN）AnAustralianwomanhasbeensentencedto10months’prisononchargesofseditioninSingaporeafterpublishingfakenewsstoriesaboutforeignersonherwebsite.

Itisthoughttobethestrongestsentenceforsedition–thechargeforconductorspeechincitingpeopletorebelagainsttheauthorityofacountry–tohavebeenimposedinthecity-state.

AiTakagi,a23-year-oldAustralianofJapanesedescentwhoiseightweekspregnant,admittedtopublishingfabricatedstoriesonthepopularwebsiteTheRealSingapore,whichsheeditedfromherhomeofBrisbane.

Thethreerelevantstories–twotargetingFilipinosandthethirdmainlandChinese–tendedto“promotefeelingsofillwillandhostility”betweendifferentracesinthediversemicronation,courtdocumentssaid.

Theprosecutionsaidthesewereabidtoattractpageviewsandextensiveadvertisingrevenuefromherwebsite.ItwasshutdownaftersheandherSingaporeanhusband,YangKaiheng,27,werearrestedonavisittoSingaporeinFebruarylastyear.

Thecouplewaschargedwithsixchargesofseditionandoneofwithholdinginformationaboutthewebsite’sadvertisingrevenuesfrompolice.

TakagipleadedguiltytofourseditionchargesearlierinMarch.KaihenghaspleadednotguiltyandhistrialwillstartonMonday.

Thechargeslevelledagainstthecoupleattractamaximumpunishmentofa$5,000fineandthreeyearsinjail.

Thedeputypublicprosecutor,GKannan,soughta14-monthprisonsentenceforTakagi,forusinga“toxiccocktailofvulgarlanguageinnuendo(and)outrightfabrication”todemoniseforeigners,ChannelNewsAsiareported–includingsomecomments“tooviletobereadoutincourt”.

TakagimadeapublicapologyfortheharmshehadcausedincourtonWednesday.

“IloveSingaporeandhopetocallitmyhomepermanently,”shesaid.“IwasnotfullyawareofthelevelofsensitivityneededwhendealingwithtopicsrelatedtoracialandreligiousissuesinSingapore.

“Iwillbemorecarefulwithmyonlinepostingsinfuture”.

ImmigrationisakeyissueinSingapore,whichhassignificantethnicChinese,ethnicMalayandethnicIndianpopulations,anditsseditionlawshavebeenusedinthepasttostiflefreespeech.

Thecountryranked150outof180onReportersWithoutBorders’latestPressFreedomIndex.