Fake news site claims former C.E. Donald Tsang committed suicide in jail

Fake news has struck Hong Kong yet again, it seems. Recently, an article titled “BREAKING! Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang Commits Suicide”, riddled with errors both factual and grammatical, cropped up on a website claiming to be a subsidiary of American right-wing news service Fox News.

The “article“, which appeared on fox-channel.com sometime on Friday, claimed the imprisoned ex-Chief Executive “took poisoned substance on last night [sic]”, quoting a “prison warden” (and referring to the publication as “FOX NEWS”). “It is not clear why the leader decided to take poison [sic] but several close sources indicated that the deceased was stressed up by his jail term.”

Okay let’s just clear some things up. At the time of writing, Donald Tsang is not dead. Also, “stressed up” is not an existing term, although we can see it becoming one (see: “bless up“).

According to Muck Rack, the author’s managed to fool at least 317 people into sharing the article on Facebook. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, like all convincing lies, it contains some truth: most of the background information about Donald Tsang (his name, title, criminal charges) is correct, albeit written in poor English.

However, a closer look at the website shows it’s clearly designed with the sole intent of spreading lies… or, if you prefer, “alternative facts”.

None of these stories are true, just FYI.

This certainly isn’t the first time fake news articles about Hong Kong have appeared – from Aug. 2015 to March 2016, a website called “Batty Post” published a slew of articles like “Hong Kong couple dismayed after DNA test proves they are twins”, “Hong Kong nightclub bans clothing; raises more than just eyebrows” and “Fashion show in Hong Kong ends in chaos after surprise ejaculation”, amongst other fake international “news”.

Batty Post is associated with the less-stupidly named “East Asia Tribune”, which (surprise surprise) also posts exclusively fabricated stories. The EAT got some traction last year after a serial story about a journalist investigating a North Korean brothel (“Five Nights in Pyongyang”) went viral, prompting enthusiastic comments deeming it “Pulitzer-worthy”. Admittedly, the story was well-written, but let’s just say it would have to enter for the “Fiction” category.