Singapore Man Charged Over an AI-Generated Crocodile Photo, Facing Up to 10 Years in Prison

September 30 (IT Home) — According to a report yesterday by the Singaporean media outlet Asia Television, a Singaporean man has been charged by police on suspicion of creating and spreading an image of a crocodile invading a reservoir. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 Singapore dollars (about 52,585 yuan at current exchange rates).

According to the report, the man is named Ye Lin. At around 3 p.m. local time on 20 August, he used the Google Gemini app to generate an image of a crocodile appearing in a reservoir, and then sent the AI-generated photo to a colleague, Min Min Oo.

The image quickly spread widely online. Singapore’s national water agency, PUB, then received a report saying that someone had spotted a crocodile in Pandan Reservoir. PUB contacted the National Parks Board, which searched the reservoir for a crocodile, and asked the public not to take part in any water activities near the reservoir.

On 21 August local time, PUB found that the image was not real and chose to report the matter to the police. That same day, Ye Lin opened his phone and deleted the Gemini image of the crocodile along with the app’s activity history.

Ye Lin has been charged by the authorities with spreading false information and with deliberately deleting the photo afterwards, which amounts to obstructing justice. Singapore police said in response that they have a zero-tolerance approach to anyone who spreads false information.

Ye Lin will appear in court again on 10 November. If both charges are proven, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 Singapore dollars (about 52,585 yuan at current exchange rates).