To the outrage of the mob, this was seen as doing nothing. But legal experts noted that NYP was trapped. A student’s consensual dating life, however messy, is rarely grounds for academic expulsion. Furthermore, the evidence was unsubstantiated hearsay. If NYP punished her based on anonymous Reddit posts, they would face a potential lawsuit for defamation or breach of natural justice.
The police were called in to investigate the theft of the phone and the distribution of the video. However, the legal framework at the time was ill-equipped to handle a digital crime of this magnitude and speed. While the police investigated the theft, the distribution had already reached a global scale, making containment impossible. singapore scandals tammy nyp