Man charged in Pakistan for allegedly spreading UK riot misinformation
A man was charged in Pakistan this week for allegedly spreading misinformation online about the riots in the United Kingdom.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that 32-year-old Farhan Asif was accused of spreading fake information online relating to the identity of the individual who fatally stabbed three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in in Southport, England, earlier this month.
The Washington Post said that Asif shared misinformation about the identity of the attacker on the website Channel3Now news and its X (formerly Twitter) account.
Asif allegedly said that the man who was involved in the stabbing was “a Muslim asylum seeker” named Ali al-Shakati. However, it was later revealed that the identity of the man arrested in the incident was Axel Muganwa Rudakubana.
The stabbing incident and misinformation spread online resulted in widespread riots across the U.K,, prompting officials to warn residents of possible violence.
Police officers face off with protesters in Weymouth, on the southwest coast of England, on August 4, 2024. On Wednesday, a man in Pakistan was charged with spreading misinformation online about the riots in the U.K. that followed the fatal stabbing of three children.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer blamed the protests and clashes with police on “far-right hatred” and warned officials were bracing possible future protests.
Similarly, British politician John Woodcock, who serves as an adviser on political violence, said there was a “concerted and coordinated” effort to spread violence online, during an interview with the BBC this month.
Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilver Aguiar, 9, were killed during the Southport dance workshop. Eight more children were injured, five critically. Two adults, Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, also suffered critical injuries while trying to protect the children.
Rudakubana, 17, was later arrested for the fatal stabbings, and charged with murder for each of the three children.
During protests that followed the stabbing, crowds chanted anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans while getting into physical altercations with police.
The Associated Press (AP) also previously reported that online misinformation accused Rudakubana of being a Muslim immigrant.
Following the protests and riots, Merseyside Police Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts said that officers are actively looking into the demonstration in Southport and warned of further arrests for violent protesters.
“If you took part in this disorder, you can expect to receive a knock on your door by our officers,” Roberts said.
According to The Washington Post, ITV News reported last week that the Channel3Now news station was “one of the accounts most clearly responsible for amplifying” misinformation while relating to the identity of the man arrested in the stabbing.
However, Asif later told reporters that the story about the attack had been deleted. According to The Post, he said: “I don’t know how such a small article or a minor Twitter account could cause widespread confusion.”
