LONDON / LAHORE: More than a week after the UK witnessed widespread riots in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are probing claims that the disinformation originated from a website that also has a footprint in Pakistan.

Recent reports aired by UK media identified a little-known platform, Channel3Now, as being the source of the disinformation that claimed the British-born 17-year-old suspect was a Muslim immigrant, who had arrived in the UK on a boat.

However, the assertion by UK broadcaster ITV News that a Pakistani individual was the originator of the false news story has been questioned, both by local law enforcement and other UK media outlets.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran told Dawn they were analysing the claims made by UK broadcaster ITV News and had initiated a probe.

No official word on whether UK authorities have sought assistance from Pakistan

There has been no official word, both from UK and Pakistani authorities, about any formal contacts between the two governments on the issue.

But sources in local law enforcement say that the person identified in the ITV report was a freelancer working for the website, which aggregates crime-related news from UK and the US and republishes the stories for the sake of clicks and advertising revenue.

The BBC report, which tracked down several people linked to Channel3Now, also endorses the view that the platform appears to be “a commercial operation attempting to aggregate crime news while making money on social media”.

It recruits freelance writers from several countries, including Pakistan and India.

The BBC traced the people behind Channel3Now, including individuals in Pakistan, Canada and the US.

It also named an individual linked to the platform, Kevin, who said there are “more than 30” people in the US, UK, Pakistan and India who work for the site, which usually recruits freelancers.

But the subsequent ITV report, which included a doorstep interview confronting Farhan Asif — the Lahore-based contributor for Channel3Now — painted him as playing “a significant role in a network of news websites that have promoted falsehoods”.

It noted, however, that Channel3Now regularly publishes sensational news stories under the pretense of being an American-style TV channel.

The BBC, in contrast, quoted Kevin as saying that Farhan Asif in particular was not involved in the false Southport story, which the site has publicly apologised for, and blamed “our UK-based team”.

It is also worth mentioning that although the freelancer is referred to as a journalist in some reports, journalistic circles in Lahore say they’ve never heard of him.

Wider disinfo network

Despite claims of Russian backing for the website, the BBC could not verify any direct links between Channel3Now and Moscow either. However, the report did confirm that pro-Kremlin channels had amplified the website’s false stories, further fueling unrest in the UK .

BBC News’ disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring noted: “I did not find any evidence to substantiate claims that Channel3Now’s misinformation could be linked to the Russian state. [A] person claiming to be from Channel3Now‘s management told me that the publication of the false name “shouldn’t have happened, but it was an error, not intentional”.

Although no direct links with that operation have been proven, some observers say this website may be linked to the Srivastava Group, an Indian company that ran a vast network of anti-Pakistan fake news websites, which was unearthed by the EU DisinfoLab in a 2019 investigation.

Although many of the websites that were part of this disinformation network have been disbanded since they were exposed, it is possible that the same people are operating a new set of websites for similar purposes.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2024