(21 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lahore – 21 August 2024
1. Various exteriors of residence of freelance web developer Farhan Asif, who allegedly played role in spreading misinformation that led to wide spread
rioting in UK
2. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Imran Kishwar, Deputy Inspector General of Investigations in Lahore:
“(It was) Farhan Asif who was operating it. He used to operate as a freelancer and was a journalist who used to target audiences abroad and gain their viewership and was earning from them. His income was 2-300,000 Pakistani rupees (USD$720 to 1080). He shared this fake story and he deliberately changed the name of the Rwandan who was actually involved in the stabbing. He changed it and named a Muslim there, that he was asylum seeker and came from Libya by boat, and he specifically targeted stabbing incidents in which three girls were killed.”
3. Exterior of Asif’s house
4. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Imran Kishwar, Deputy Inspector General of Investigations in Lahore:
"The basic role in this vandalising which triggered him…(inaudible) was his article. And now he acknowledges this, he confesses that it was faked. He said there was no such fact and that he shared the information himself and he is apologetic and should not have done it. There should have been responsibility, so we traced him and since it was a case of cyber terrorism, so we handed over him to the FIA (Federal Investigation Authority)."
5. Wide of street
STORYLINE:
Authorities in Pakistan on Wednesday arrested and charged a man with cyber terrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation that led to widespread rioting in the U.K. earlier this month.
The suspect was identified as freelance web developer Farhan Asif, 32, 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 that killed three girls and injured 10 other people July 29 at a dance class in Northwest England.
The false information claimed that the suspect was a recently arrived asylum-seeker and had a name that suggested he 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 U.K. It’s 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 U.S.
The site’s editor-in-chief posted an apology 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.
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, the police official Imran Kishwar said Asif was arrested at his house in the city for questioning.
Kishwar told The Associated Press that Asif regretted posting the fake story.
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