(22 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lahore – 22 August 2024
1. Various of Pakistan FIA (Federal Investigation Authority) officials bringing Farhan Asif, freelance web developer accused of spreading misinformation that led to rioting in UK, dressed in blue, to court
2. Close of Asif facing wall, handcuffed
3. Asif with FIA officials leaving court building surrounded by press
4. FIA officials covering Asif’s face and putting him in car
5. Car leaving carrying Asif
STORYLINE:
A man charged with cyber terrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation that led to widespread rioting in the U.K. appeared Thursday at a court in Lahore, Pakistan.
The suspect, freelance web developer Farhan Asif, 32, is accused of spreading false information 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 the teen 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.
Asif has claimed that he was not the source of the misinformation but that he reposted it from social media, according to police in Lahore, who said he was arrested at his house in the city for questioning.
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 UK and led to more than 1,000 arrests.
Pakistani police handed over the case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which handles cases related to cyber terrorism. It was unclear if Britain had requested his extradition.
FIA officials were seen bringing Asif to court in handcuffs, before covering his head and putting him in a car.
AP Video shot by Jahanzaib Aurangzaib
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