Police in Pakistan charge man with cyber terrorism over Southport misinformation

Babar Dogar and Brian Melley, Associated Press

Pakistani police have arrested a man and charged him with cyber terrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation that led to widespread rioting in the UK, a senior police investigator said.

The suspect was identified as Farhan Asif, 32, a freelance web developer, said Imran Kishwar, deputy inspector general of investigations in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province.

The man is accused of spreading misinformation from YouTube and Facebook about the British teenage suspect in a stabbing attack at a dance class in Southport, north-west England, on July 29 in which three girls were killed and 10 other people were injured.

‘Asylum seeker’

The false information claimed that the suspect was a recently arrived asylum seeker and had a name that suggested the teenager was Muslim.

After the misinformation led to a violent mob attacking a mosque near the site of the stabbing the next day, police took the unusual step of clarifying that the suspect was born in the UK.

It has been widely reported in British media that his parents are from Rwanda and said to have Christian beliefs.

Channel3 Now, an account on the X social media platform that purports to be a news channel, was one of the first outlets to report the false name, Ali Al-Shakati.

A Facebook account for the channel said it is managed by people in Pakistan and the US.

The site’s editor-in-chief posted an apology on July 31 for “the misleading information published in a recent article on our website, Channel3 Now. We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused”.

But the false reports were widely disseminated and are blamed for fuelling more than a week of rioting that broke out across the United Kingdom and has led to more than 1,000 arrests.

Far-right agitators

Authorities have blamed far-right agitators for stoking the violent unrest by continuing to spread misinformation and promoting the violent demonstrations online.

At a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore, police said Asif was arrested at his house in the city for questioning.

They said Asif has claimed that he was not the source of the misinformation but that he reposted it from social media.

Police have handed over the case to the Federal Investigation Agency, which handles cases relating to cyber terrorism.

It was unclear if Britain had requested his extradition.