After the tragic knife attack in Southport, UK, that claimed the lives of three young girls, the disinformation surrounding the incident has now reached as far as Lahore, Pakistan.

More than a week after the deadly incident, which sparked widespread riots in the UK, Pakistani law enforcement agencies are investigating claims that the false information originated from a website with a presence in Pakistan.

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

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

The Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations), Faisal Kamran, has stated that they are analyzing the claims made by ITV News and have launched an investigation into the matter.

Despite the claims made by ITV News, there has been no official communication between the authorities in the UK and Pakistan regarding this matter.

According to sources within the local law enforcement in Lahore, the person identified in the ITV report was simply a freelancer working for the website, Channel3Now. This platform aggregates crime-related news from the UK and the US, and then republishes the stories in order to generate clicks and advertising revenue.

The BBC’s own investigation into Channel3Now corroborates the view that this appears to be a commercial operation focused on aggregating crime news and generating profits through social media.

The platform recruits freelance writers from several countries, including Pakistan and India, to contribute to its content. The BBC was able to trace the individuals behind Channel3Now, including those located in Pakistan, Canada, and the US.

One of the individuals linked to Channel3Now, named Kevin, stated that the website has more than 30 people working for it across the US, UK, Pakistan, and India, predominantly in a freelance capacity.

The subsequent ITV report presented a more complex picture, portraying Farhan Asif - the Lahore-based contributor for Channel3Now - as playing a “significant role in a network of news websites that have promoted falsehoods”.

The report noted that Channel3Now regularly publishes sensational news stories, often under the guise of being an American-style TV channel.

However, in contrast to the ITV report, the BBC quoted Kevin, an individual linked to Channel3Now, as stating that Farhan Asif was not involved in the false Southport story, which the site has publicly apologized for. Instead, Kevin blamed “our UK-based team” for the spread of the misinformation.

It is also worth noting that while Asif is referred to as a journalist in some reports, media circles in Lahore claim they have never heard of him, casting doubt on his credentials as a professional journalist.

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

In an interview, BBC News’ disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring stated that she did not find any evidence to substantiate the claims that Channel3Now’s misinformation could be linked to the Russian state. According to a person claiming to be from Channel3Now’s management, the publication of the false name “shouldn’t have happened, but it was an error, not intentional”.

While no direct links to the Russian operation have been proven, some observers suggest that Channel3Now may be connected to the Srivastava Group, an Indian company that was previously found to be running a vast network of anti-Pakistan fake news websites in a 2019 investigation by the EU DisinfoLab.

Although many of the websites involved in this earlier disinformation network have since been shut down, it is possible that the same individuals may be operating a new set of websites for similar purposes.

Two children were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, northwest England. A 17-year-old male suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Nine other children were wounded, six of them critically, and two adults were also in critical condition. Police believe the adults were trying to protect the children.