Former The Real Singapore editor Ai Takagi to plead guilty to manufacturing articles for profit
SINGAPORE: One of two former editors of the now-defunct sociopolitical blog The Real Singapore (TRS), Ai Takagi, told the court on Monday (Mar 7) that she intends to plead guilty to charges of sedition on Tuesday. Her husband, Yang Kaiheng, is still denying the charges and will proceed with the trial, which will now begin on Friday.
In an opening statement on Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutors G Kannan, Suhas Malhotra and Sheryl Janet George said that on the website, "patently false information was represented as being the truth", and TRS "even resorted to outright and blatant fabrication in order to attract internet users to their website - all with the objective of increasing their advertising revenue".
They called the website “nothing more than a cauldron of hostility and ill-will” which allowed the couple, who married in October last year, to “profit handsomely”.
Some of the “contributions” from ordinary Singaporeans published on the TRS website were also doctored to “sensationalise faultlines and create social divides”, the prosecution alleged. The couple clearly considered “accuracy, propriety and truthfulness as necessary casualties” in pursuing their main aim of garnering high internet traffic to boost their advertising revenue, DPP Kannan said.
The seven seditious posts in question “maliciously exploited racial and xenophobic faultlines” to attract traffic to the website, the prosecution added. This boosted the website’s “enormous” advertising revenue.
The couple pocketed sums of AU$20,000 to more than AU$50,000 per month, DPP Kannan told the court, adding that it was evident that money was “the vulgar motive” of the seditious posts, which targeted foreigners from the Philippines, India and China.
Takagi, 23, and Yang, 27, each face seven charges under the Sedition Act for publishing articles which “promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Singapore”. The articles in question targeted foreigners from the Philippines, India and China.
They also face an eighth charge under the Penal Code for failing to produce financial statements relating to the blog’s advertising revenue to police investigators.
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) last year ordered TRS to disable access to the blog and its social media accounts, adding that “the foreign editors were responsible for several articles that sought to incite anti-foreigner sentiments in Singapore”. Takagi is Australian while Yang is Singaporean.
The MDA also said this was an “editorial strategy” to increase traffic to the blog, thus boosting advertising revenue, in an attempt to “seek profit at the expense of Singapore’s public interest and national harmony”.
The prosecution is expected to call six witnesses in the trial, including five police officers. Mr Choo said both Takagi and Yang would also testify.
If convicted of sedition, both could face up to three years’ jail and a fine of S$5,000.
TAKAGI'S DECISION TO PLEAD GUILTY 'NOT EASY': LAWYER
In a statement to the media, the couple's lawyer, Mr Remy Choo Zheng Xi, said it was "not an easy decision" for Takagi to take responsibility for her role in running TRS.
At the same time, Mr Choo said Yang would be claiming trial "to clear his name".
"This was also not an easy decision for Mr Yang to make: he wants nothing more than for his nightmare to end," said Mr Choo, adding that Mr Yang will put up a vigorous defence.
- CNA/mz
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