A Pakistani man, Farhan Asif, appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges of cyber terrorism. He is accused of spreading disinformation on his clickbait website, Channel3Now, which allegedly fueled anti-immigration riots in Britain. Asif was accused of publishing a false article claiming that a Muslim asylum seeker was suspected in a deadly knife attack on children in the UK. UK authorities have attributed days of riots, targeting mosques, hotels housing asylum seekers, police officers, and other properties, to online misinformation.
Farhan Asif, a 31-year-old software engineer with no journalism credentials, primarily ran the Channel3Now website as a source of income. A senior official from Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency, speaking anonymously to AFP, stated that initial investigations suggest Asif's sole intent was to generate revenue through clickbait content. Asif appeared in a Lahore district court on Wednesday, charged with cyber terrorism, and was remanded to custody for one day.
The false article was published on Channel3Now just hours after the attack and was extensively shared on social media. The unrest and riots that followed the July 29 knife attack, which killed three girls during a dance class in Southport, spread to more than a dozen towns and cities in England. The man charged with murder and attempted murder for the stabbing spree, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain to Rwandan parents. Officials have implicated far-right elements in inciting the disorder.
