SINGAPORE, Aug 9 — A wildlife charity’s attempt to use a fake online ivory shop here to raise awareness about the illicit global trade has stirred controversy, drawing both praise and condemnation from netizens.

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Singapore (WWF) on Tuesday unveiled that it was behind the launch of Ivory Lane, a fictitious outfit which purportedly sold vintage ivory jewellery items through an online store and social media accounts.

The stunt, WWF-Singapore said, was aimed at at highlighting local laws which continue to facilitate the illicit global trade for ivory.

The charity added that the campaign "sparked a heated debate on wildlife trade, national legislation and enforcement in Singapore”, garnering 65,000 reactions on social media.

Some netizens applauded WWF-Singapore for a campaign that successfully went viral on social media platforms like Facebook, and drew attention to the issue.

"The campaign succeeded — it drew attention to the loophole. Now that attention’s there, there’s public support for the loophole to be closed,” Nicolette Dode Tan wrote on the Facebook page of the fictitious Ivory Lane shop.

Others were less impressed, and criticised WWF-Singapore for deliberately spreading misinformation.

Joshua Kho wrote in a comment on Ivory Lane’s Facebook page: "Regardless of intention, using deliberate misinformation is disrespectful and childish. You’ve lost my trust, WWF and WWF-Singapore. WWF is the same as ‘fake news’ for me now.”

Added Tracey Jennings: "You don’t need tricks to galvanise support, just facts.... I’m an engineer, if I had used false data in my work to prove a fact... I’d be sacked.”

Singapore banned the commercial import and export of ivory in 1990, although ivory that entered the market before 1990 is still permitted for sale in the Republic.

WWF says this continues to facilitate illicit ivory trade globally as recently poached ivory could masquerade as vintage ivory.

The Singapore government is looking into implementing a domestic ban on the sale of ivory, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore said in an emailed statement, adding that the implementation details are currently being worked out.

WWF’s investigations found more than 40 shops in Singapore selling ivory products and numerous online listings on popular e-commerce and classified platforms. In physical shops, WWF investigators said traders explained how to smuggle ivory across borders undetected which they said showed how easily the loopholes in the law can be misused.

Singapore has made large scale-seizures of ivory in recent years and conservation groups say it acts as a transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade. — Reuters