On November 9, a parish priest was stabbed with a knife as he presided over mass at a Catholic church in Singapore.
While the priest survived, and the attacker was subdued at the scene and subsequently handed over to the police, the vicious act shocked the city state, which is unaccustomed to such high-profile acts of violence.
What came next was a masterclass in information management.
Knowing the futility of imposing a blanket ban on people sharing the incident on social media, and that a news vacuum invites speculation that may give rise to even worse outcomes, Singaporean authorities chose the strategy of pre-empting would-be conspiracy theories by launching a media blitz on the known facts of the case.
Speed was imperative. Within hours after the attack, we were told that the attacker was “believed to have acted alone” and the police did not suspect that it was an act of terrorism.
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