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Pakistani man arrested connected to Southport disinformation

Getty Images  police car is set on fire as Far-right activists hold an 'Enough is Enough' protest on August 02, 2024 in Sunderland, England.Getty Images

Pakistani authorities have charged a man accused of spreading disinformation thought to have fuelled unrest in the UK with cyber terrorism.

Police told the BBC that Farhan Asif was linked to Channel3Now, a website which posted an article in the hours after the Southport attack last month which gave a false name for the attacker and suggested he was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.

The article was widely quoted in viral posts on social media.

Unrest broke out in England and Northern Ireland after the fatal stabbing attack, in which three young girls died.

On Tuesday, police in Lahore said they had questioned Mr Asif about the article.

An officer told the BBC that Mr Asif said he had written the article based on information copied from a UK-based social media account without verifying it. He said that he ran the website alone.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has since taken up the case and will investigate whether anyone further is involved.

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