A Pakistani judge has dropped charges against a man accused of spreading misinformation on social media that contributed to recent rioting in Britain.
Farhan Asif, 32, a web developer, was accused of posting false information online that a Muslim asylum-seeker was responsible for the deadly stabbing spree on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Britain that killed three children on July 29.
The misinformation about the name and identity of the attacker fed into anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments, fueling unrest and riots in England and Northern Ireland.
British police later named the attack suspect as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 18, who was 17 when the attack took place. Rudakubana was born in Britain to Rwandan parents.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency arrested Asif last week on cyberterrorism charges but was released Monday after a court appearance in Lahore.
Asif told the judge that he shared a post on social media that contained false information but deleted it after realizing that it was not correct.
Mumtaz Hussain, a lawyer representing Asif, told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the FIA dropped all charges against Asif and released him “after being unable to find evidence against him.”
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
