Fake news site stirs Malaysia, claims Selangor prince converted to Catholicism
(The Malaysian Insider) – Fake news website World News Daily Report stirred Malaysian online forums and some local sites today when it claimed that Selangor crown prince Tengku Amir Shah had converted to Catholicism last week.
Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia where Islam is the official religion and the country’s majority Malays and the nine royal houses are all Muslims.
But the website is a known as a fake news site and carries outrageous headlines such as “Bengali man pregnant with twins” and “Man steals 32 tonnes of bacon” – some of which get routinely picked up by other websites.
In its report dated July 24, World News Daily reported, “The only son and heir of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Tengku Amir Shah, has sent a shockwave throughout the Muslim community worldwide as what People’s magazine has deemed ‘the real life Romeo and Juliet story of our time’.
“The crown prince of the state of Selangor in Malaysia, has relinquished all his possessions and a chance to succeed to the prestigious throne of Selangor to follow his heart and marry Spanish top model and superstar Cristina Gomez, a 16 year old who was propelled to stardom this year when she was noticed on national television in the crowd of a highly anticipated football match.”
An online check showed there was no such Spanish top model named Cristina Gomez.
It also got Tengku Amir Shah’s age wrong, saying he was 21. The crown prince is 23.
The fake report claimed that “the baptism of the former follower of Islam at Santa Maria Cathedral this week in Braga, Portugal, has brought much criticism on the former heir to the Selangor throne by the world Muslim community at large.”
It also said, “The lovers are to be wed this month in San Marco Cathedral in romantic Venice and have not revealed where they are to spend their honeymoon.”
In the About Us section of the website, World News Daily says it is “an American Jewish Zionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedicated to covering biblical archeology news and other mysteries around the globe.
