Arrest in Pakistan for Cyberterrorism Linked to False News About UK Stabbing Incident

Arrest in Pakistan Linked to Cyberterrorism Charges over Fake News

This week, Pakistani authorities apprehended a man on serious charges of cyberterrorism, following his dissemination of false information that incited violent riots in Britain after a tragic stabbing incident last month. The unrest erupted in response to the murder of three young girls during a dance class in Southport, with the suspect incorrectly identified online as a Muslim asylum seeker.

Farhan Asif, a freelance web developer, was taken into custody at his home in Lahore, as confirmed by local police. Mr. Asif was employed by Channel3Now, a news aggregation platform that published sensational and misleading claims regarding the individual accused of the Southport attack.

The website erroneously reported that the alleged perpetrator was a 17-year-old Muslim who had illegally entered Britain by boat the previous year and was supposedly on an MI6 watchlist, a reference to the British intelligence agency. In reality, the British authorities apprehended a 17-year-old who was born and raised in Britain, hailing from a Christian family originally from Rwanda.

The arrest of Mr. Asif followed discussions held on Sunday in Lahore between Jane Marriott, the British High Commissioner in Pakistan, and Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab, accompanied by her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sources within the local police suggested that the arrest was executed at the behest of British authorities, although this has not been officially confirmed.

The British Embassy in Islamabad refrained from commenting on the specifics of the arrest request, stating simply, “This is a matter for the Pakistani authorities,” in a brief statement.

In an interview with ITV, a British broadcasting network, Mr. Asif denied any connection to the ensuing violence, minimizing the role of the website in the chaos. Pakistani officials reported that Mr. Asif was detained during a raid conducted by the cybercrime division of the Federal Investigation Agency. During the operation, two laptops and a mobile phone were confiscated from his home.

A police report reviewed by The New York Times revealed that Mr. Asif admitted to sharing false information during his interrogation. However, he claimed that he merely reposted the information from another source without taking the necessary steps to verify its accuracy.

Channel3Now initially issued an apology after its involvement in the riots became apparent, but the site was subsequently shut down. The platform, which created the façade of a local American television news outlet, primarily published clickbait articles centered around crime in the United States, Britain, and Australia. A Facebook account associated with the site indicated that its management was based in both Pakistan and the United States.