CityNews – Chiang Rai Rajabhat University (CRRU) officials and a student made a public apology yesterday after hoax photos were posted on social media websites of an apparent earthquake victim.
On May 14th, Dr. Komsan Ratanasimakun, CRRU Vice President, and a female junior student (name withheld) from the Faculty of Education held a press conference concerning photos of a CRRU student seemingly dead in a stairwell at a CRRU dormitory. The photos went viral.
Dr. Komsan told reporters that the photos of the CRRU student with the caption “CRRU Student falls down stairs and dies” were posted on social media soon after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Chiang Rai. The university set up a committee to verify the photos and found out that the female student was in fact a CRRU student, but the photos were taken two days prior to the earthquake. The student and her friends took the photos because she actually did fall down the same flight of stairs earlier, but the picture then became a hoax.
CRRU officials asked the student to come forward and apologise for the confusion she had caused. Officials said that CRRU students should set a good example for the public and be held accountable for any misuse of social media. The committee put her on academic probation and community service.