A RUMOR SPREAD ONLINE ON WEDNESDAY EVENING that Lee Kuan Yew, the founding premier of Singapore and senior advisor to its Cabinet, had died, until proven false by the Singaporean authorities soon. Many influential media outlets helped flare up the rumor before it was quashed. Comments:

The rumor of Lee's death emerged at 21:50; it was proven false within 25 minutes. Yet within that short time countless media outlets helped spread the rumor. Obviously, they were hurrying in order not to fall behind their competitors; but why not give the Singaporean Cabinet a call and talk for 10 seconds? That would have stopped the rumor in its tracks. The rumor about Lee's death was only a minor test for media outlets; we need to prepare for bigger ones.

Xin Haiguang, a media researcher, via WeChat, March 20