Local e-commerce platform Carousell has deleted troll accounts that had put Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Parliament House and national icons like the Jewel Changi Airport and the Singapore Zoo for sale online.
While the listings have been removed on Carousell, screenshots available on the @sell.singapore Instagram page show that Singapore was listed at S$50 million while Parliament House was going for S$900 trillion. The Singapore Zoo was listed at S$600,000 while Jewel Changi Airport was priced much higher, at S$8 million.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was listed for S$5 million. In contrast, controversial social media influencer Dee Kosh, who is embroiled in an alleged sexual harassment scandal, was listed for just S$100.
Several MRT stations and other landmarks like the Singapore Flyer, the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the Merlion and the Fullerton Hotel were also listed for millions of dollars. Even worse, the Carousell platform itself was priced at S$50 million in another fake listing.
Carousell said that the listings were removed for violating its policies. Users are not allowed to sell people, post fake listings or misprice the items they wish to sell. Revealing that it uses AI to detect offenders, the startup told the press:
“While we enjoy Singaporeans’ sense of humour, we’d like to take this chance to remind our users that in accordance with our listing rules, such listings are not allowed on our marketplace and have since been taken down.”