London: A Pakistani web developer is facing a criminal charge over claims he helped spread misinformation about the accused Southport attacker.
Farhan Asif, 32, has been charged with cyberterrorism after false claims quickly spread online that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant to the UK, when in fact he was born in Wales and comes from a Christian family. Pakistani police announced the charge on Wednesday, and said that Asif claimed he was not the original source of the false information, but reposted it from social media.
After three little girls were murdered at a holiday club in Southport on July 29, false rumours including a fake name for the suspect spread on X, appearing to originate from an apparent news website called Channel3 Now.
The site’s editor-in-chief posted an apology on July 31 for “the misleading information published in a recent article on [its] website, Channel3 Now”. (DPA)
