Southport attack: Pakistan drops disinformation case against Farhan Asif

Officials in Pakistan have dropped a situation against a guy who was detained last week in connection with the deception that was thought to have contributed to current UK protests.

Police halted the case because they could not get proof that Farhan Asif was the news’s owner.

Leaving a Lahore court on Monday, Mr Asif declined to answer the BBC’s issues.

After deception was made about the name and identity of the alleged attacker of a stabbing assault in Southport that left three young ladies dead, unrest broke out in England and Northern Ireland earlier this month.

A BBC investigation had linked Mr Asif to a website called Channel3Now, which posted an article that included a false name for the alleged attacker, and wrongly suggested he was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.

The article immediately gained widespread social media attention and went viral.

Police claimed in the court hearing on Monday that Mr. Asif was working as a freelancer for a personal channel and that he had shared news with a unique UK social media account.

After UK police had refuted the false information he had shared, Mr Asif deleted the posts and issued an apology on Channel3now for sharing the news, police said.

Mr. Asif was questioned by the judge about his awareness of the dangers of sharing net knowledge with others.

A person who claimed to be “management” at the site was questioned by BBC Verify after it had formerly tracked down a number of people connected to Channel3Now.

That person told the BBC that the publication of the false name” should n’t have happened, but it was an error, not intentional”.

After three younger women were killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dancing school on July 29th, false information about the intruder began to spread online.

Aggressive problem finally broke out in Southport before spreading to towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, fuelled by misconceptions, the far-right and anti-immigration attitude.

In the past three months, more than 500 individuals have been charged in relation to the condition and at least 170 sentenced, some being sent to prison.