A man has been arrested in Pakistan for spreading false information that incited riots after three girls were killed in a stabbing attack in Southport, England last month. Information from CNN.
The suspect, Farhan Asif, 32, who was arrested in Lahore, in the eastern part of the country, has been charged with cyber terrorism, said Imran Kishwar, the city's deputy inspector general of investigations.
Linked to Jail website Channel 3 nowIt presents itself as a news channel X (formerly Twitter). It was one of the first accounts to spread false information that the suspect in the July 29 Southport attack was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK and that his name was of Muslim origin.
Asif has been accused of spreading false information through YouTube and the Facebook An attacker killed three girls and injured 10 others at a dance class in Southport.
Police released an unusual statement clarifying that the suspect was British by birth after a false tip-off sparked a violent attack at a mosque near the site of the stabbing the following day.
Pakistan police informed about this CNN Asif admitted that he made up the story based on information copied from a UK social media account without verifying the veracity of the data.
A police officer told the reporter that Asif's website was used to publish news from the US, UK and Australia, aiming to generate traffic and revenue through advertisements for the company. Google. The accused admitted that he earned about one thousand dollars (R$5,500) a month from this.
On July 31, the Principal Channel 3 now “We apologize for the misinformation published in a recent article on our website, Channel 3 now“. He added: “We deeply apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.”
However, the misinformation sparked more than a week of rioting in cities across England, resulting in over a thousand arrests.
Authorities in the United Kingdom have consistently held far-right activists responsible for the riots by spreading disinformation and promoting violent protests online.
The Lahore police have registered a case with Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which handles cyber terrorism cases.
The agency said the misinformation had “created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity” in the UK and damaged Pakistan's image.
