Widespread violent anti-immigrant riots swept across many parts of the United Kingdom at the end of July and the beginning of August, leaving dozens injured and resulting in the vandalism of public property and several mosques. An ITV investigation has identified Farhan Asif, a Pakistani national, as the individual behind Channel3Now, a controversial website that spread misinformation, fueling the unrest.
The website was found to have disseminated false information following the Southport stabbings, which incited violence and disorder in several UK cities. ITV’s investigation traced the operations of Channel3Now back to Asif, who was approached by journalists at his estate in Pakistan.
Hours after being contacted by ITV, the website was taken offline. Channel3Now had falsely reported that the attacker in the Southport incident was a 17-year-old Muslim migrant named Ali al-Shakati, who allegedly arrived in the UK by boat and was on an MI6 watch list.
This baseless claim, which was widely shared on social media, escalated tensions and led to violent disturbances in Southport, London, and Hartlepool.
Farhan Asif denied any responsibility for the violence, dismissing the impact of the misinformation spread by his website.
Asif claimed to be a freelance writer focused on U.S. crime stories and denied direct involvement with the Southport article. However, records uncovered by ITV indicate that Asif played a significant role in these websites, which have faced legal action for intellectual property violations by the American broadcaster Fox. Court documents named Asif as one of the owners, citing “plausible evidence” of common control over the disputed domain names.
Despite Asif’s denials, the investigation suggests a deeper involvement in the network of sites responsible for spreading harmful falsehoods.
