The owner of a Singaporean news website was sentenced to eight months in prison today for sedition, a media report said.

The now-defunct website The Real Singapore published several later debunked articles reporting on divisive or discriminatory activities by members of the country’s Philippine community.

Singaporean law considers seditious any material that foments discord between different ethnic or national groups.

Yang Kaiheng, 27, pleaded guilty last week, saying he used his website to “promote ill will and hostility” in Singapore, The Straits Times reported.

Deputy public prosecutor G Kannan said Yang’s behaviour could “tear our society apart” if left unchecked, Channel News Asia reported.

Yang and his wife had made considerable profit from the site, he said. Their earnings allowed them to pay off their home loan of A$190,000 (US$140,752) in just 11 months, according to bank documents produced in court.

The site carried adverts and scored a high hit-rate during the less than three years it was online until it was shut down in May 2015.

One piece in February 2015, subsequently proved untrue, claimed that a Philippine family caused a conflict by complaining to police about the noise of a Hindu Thaipusam festival celebrated by local Tamils.

Another article alleged Philippine managers were giving preferential treatment to their countrymen over Singaporeans in the workplace.

Yang’s defence lawyer argued for a five-month sentence, saying that Yang “did not have a day-to-day role” in the running of the website.

His wife and co-editor, Japanese-Australian Ai Takagi, started a 10-month prison sentence in April for sedition.

- dpa