Man arrested in Pakistan for alleged role in spreading disinformation linked to UK riots

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Authority arrested a man on Tuesday who it claimed had spread disinformation thought to have enflamed the recent unrest in the UK.

According to the FIA statement the “article contained a false claim about the arrest of a Muslim asylum seeker by police in the stabbing incident in a dance party in Southport on July 29, 2024.”

The FIA confirmed that the man has not been charged.

Police in Lahore have identified the man, arrested by the FIA, as Farhan Asif, and that he was questioned about the article on Monday.

It’s unclear if Asif has an attorney.

Asif told police he would earn close to a thousand dollars a month by doing this, according to the official.

After a statement from UK police, after the riots, Asif claims he deleted the story and issued an immediate apology.

The UK faced its worst disorder in more than a decade, after outbreaks of far-right, anti-immigrant violence swept the country. Protests first broke out late last month, after an anti-immigrant misinformation campaign stoked outrage over a stabbing attack that left three children dead in Southport, northern England.