A district court in Lahore has extended the physical remand of Farhan Asif, a suspect accused of spreading disinformation that fueled anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the UK, by four more days. Asif was taken into custody for allegedly uploading a misleading news article on the website Channel3Now, which claimed that a British-born suspect in a fatal stabbing was a Muslim immigrant.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sought an extension of Asif’s remand to recover evidence and investigate his social media posts. The agency’s lawyer argued that Asif’s posts on social media platform X needed to be investigated, and evidence needed to be recovered from his possession. The court granted the extension, ordering Asif to be produced again after the stipulated time.

The case against Asif was registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (Peca) 2016, and he was initially taken into custody by Lahore police before being handed over to the FIA cybercrime wing. The FIA has been investigating Asif’s role in spreading disinformation that fueled the recent riots in the UK.

The UK riots, which took place over a week ago, were sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport. However, disinformation spread on social media claimed that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant who had arrived in the UK on a boat. UK media outlets identified Channel3Now as the source of the disinformation, and ITV News asserted that a Pakistani individual was the originator of the false news story.

The extension of Asif’s remand suggests that the FIA is taking the investigation seriously and needs more time to gather evidence and build a case against him. The spread of disinformation on social media has serious consequences, as seen in the UK riots, and it is essential to hold those responsible accountable.

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