SINGAPORE: A man created fake Facebook accounts posing as someone he disliked, then shared videos that disparaged the religion of Islam, attracting police reports for inflammatory content.
Chua Wang Cheng, 33, was jailed for six months after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of harassment by stalking and two charges of sharing content intended to wound the religious feelings of Muslims.
Four more charges of wounding the religious feelings of Muslims, including by posting comments on the Facebook pages of CNA and Mothership, were also considered in sentencing on Monday (Dec 23).
The court previously heard that Chua, also known as Cai Wangchen, met the individual he impersonated in 2011, while he was serving National Service.
Chua disliked the victim as he felt the victim was arrogant and sarcastic towards him, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Chew said.
Eight years later, in February 2019, Chua set up a Facebook account using the victim's name and photo. He also added 627 users as Facebook friends.
He posted photos of the victim and documents including the victim's transcript and letter of commendation from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). He also exchanged comments with other users on these posts.
Chua Wang Cheng (left, with umbrella) entering the State Courts on Dec 23, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
In September 2019, several users commented that the account was fake, and Chua deactivated it.
On Sep 10, 2019, an anonymous complaint was made claiming that several of the posts made by the fake account in the victim's name incited hatred among different races and religions.
That same day, the victim was interviewed by police and said that the account did not belong to him. He made a police report that he had been harassed by Chua.
Chua subsequently reactivated the fake account and made more posts. Facebook received a complaint and closed the fake account in November 2019, after finding that it violated the platform's community standards.
Chua then opened a second fake account in the victim's name and continued to make posts until October 2020.
Using the second fake account, Chua shared links to two YouTube videos on Nov 25, 2019. Both videos, shared minutes apart, depicted someone portraying the Prophet Muhammad.
According to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), one of the videos contained baseless claims and was made with the intention of disparaging Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
The other video contained derogatory statements towards Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim community at large, MUIS assessed.
While Chua did not produce the videos, he shared them with accompanying commentary intended to wound the religious feelings of Muslim Facebook users, the prosecutor said.
Chua Wang Cheng leaving the State Courts on Dec 16, 2024. (File photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
During investigations, Chua admitted to sharing the two videos and posting content while posing as the victim because he did not like the victim.
When Chua's phone was seized, the police also found WeChat messages from Chua saying that it was "fun" and "felt really good" to post "anti-Muslim comments".
Chua's actions resulted in the victim being hauled in for police questioning at least twice in 2019 and 2020.
The victim made another police report stating that the content posted on the fake Facebook accounts caused him psychological, professional and reputational harm.
In October 2020, three different people also made police reports against the fake account for uploading content that was inflammatory towards Muslim users on Facebook.
The prosecutor sought six to eight months' jail for Chua, describing his conduct as malicious, premeditated and persistent.
The fake Facebook accounts were made to besmirch the victim, said Mr Chew. For instance, the post containing the victim's SAF transcript contained a lewd description of how he got positive feedback from his commander.
The two videos and accompanying commentary that Chua shared were also "extremely offensive", and intended to spread a skewed interpretation of Islam, the prosecutor added.
The punishment for harassment by stalking is a jail term of up to a year, a fine of up to S$5,000 (US$3,690), or both.
A person found guilty of acting with the deliberate intention of wounding racial or religious feelings can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
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Chua Wang Cheng, 33, was jailed for six months after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of harassment by stalking and two charges of sharing content intended to wound the religious feelings of Muslims.
Four more charges of wounding the religious feelings of Muslims, including by posting comments on the Facebook pages of CNA and Mothership, were also considered in sentencing on Monday (Dec 23).
The court previously heard that Chua, also known as Cai Wangchen, met the individual he impersonated in 2011, while he was serving National Service.
Chua disliked the victim as he felt the victim was arrogant and sarcastic towards him, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Chew said.
Eight years later, in February 2019, Chua set up a Facebook account using the victim's name and photo. He also added 627 users as Facebook friends.
He posted photos of the victim and documents including the victim's transcript and letter of commendation from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). He also exchanged comments with other users on these posts.
Chua Wang Cheng (left, with umbrella) entering the State Courts on Dec 23, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
In September 2019, several users commented that the account was fake, and Chua deactivated it.
On Sep 10, 2019, an anonymous complaint was made claiming that several of the posts made by the fake account in the victim's name incited hatred among different races and religions.
That same day, the victim was interviewed by police and said that the account did not belong to him. He made a police report that he had been harassed by Chua.
Chua subsequently reactivated the fake account and made more posts. Facebook received a complaint and closed the fake account in November 2019, after finding that it violated the platform's community standards.
Chua then opened a second fake account in the victim's name and continued to make posts until October 2020.
Using the second fake account, Chua shared links to two YouTube videos on Nov 25, 2019. Both videos, shared minutes apart, depicted someone portraying the Prophet Muhammad.
According to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), one of the videos contained baseless claims and was made with the intention of disparaging Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
The other video contained derogatory statements towards Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim community at large, MUIS assessed.
While Chua did not produce the videos, he shared them with accompanying commentary intended to wound the religious feelings of Muslim Facebook users, the prosecutor said.
Chua Wang Cheng leaving the State Courts on Dec 16, 2024. (File photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
During investigations, Chua admitted to sharing the two videos and posting content while posing as the victim because he did not like the victim.
When Chua's phone was seized, the police also found WeChat messages from Chua saying that it was "fun" and "felt really good" to post "anti-Muslim comments".
Chua's actions resulted in the victim being hauled in for police questioning at least twice in 2019 and 2020.
The victim made another police report stating that the content posted on the fake Facebook accounts caused him psychological, professional and reputational harm.
In October 2020, three different people also made police reports against the fake account for uploading content that was inflammatory towards Muslim users on Facebook.
The prosecutor sought six to eight months' jail for Chua, describing his conduct as malicious, premeditated and persistent.
The fake Facebook accounts were made to besmirch the victim, said Mr Chew. For instance, the post containing the victim's SAF transcript contained a lewd description of how he got positive feedback from his commander.
The two videos and accompanying commentary that Chua shared were also "extremely offensive", and intended to spread a skewed interpretation of Islam, the prosecutor added.
The punishment for harassment by stalking is a jail term of up to a year, a fine of up to S$5,000 (US$3,690), or both.
A person found guilty of acting with the deliberate intention of wounding racial or religious feelings can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
Continue reading...