A Taiwanese man who failed to stop his son from playing inside a large fridge at his shop did not expect to face a barrage of criticisms from netizens.

What is worse is the authorities came looking for him after receiving complaints of child abuse.

The man, only known as Huang, had allowed a friend to snap a photo of his smiling two-year-old son enjoying himself inside the fridge with drinks for sale behind him.

But trouble came when his friend shared the image online as a ‘joke’.

Some netizens just didn’t get it. Instead of laughing it off, they reported the matter to the authorities after seeing the photo on social media with the caption: ‘I can’t afford to raise (this child). Auction prices start at 0 yuan.”

They also accused Huang of being a bad parent.

But journalists from the local media who visited Huang at his shop in the Qingshui District of Taichung, found the fuss was due to a misunderstanding,

Huang, a single parent, claimed he did not give approval for the photo to be uploaded online.

He reportedly told the media: “My son likes to play around and climb into the fridge himself. I told him not to but he wouldn’t listen. One of my friends thought my son was cute and so he took a photo of him and posted it online with those comments as a joke.”

Fun in fridges does come with its dangers.

Two Russian cousins aged four and six died in a fridge during a game of hide-and-seek in 2014.

The girls suffocated when they could not open the fridge door after climbing inside to hide.

A police spokesman said: “The pair wanted to play a joke on their grandmother and hide from her and decided to do that in an old refrigerator.”

chenj@sph.com.sg