Fact-checking organisations have identified nearly 200 pieces of false information originating from Bangladesh and circulating on Facebook over the past week.
In the run-up to the national election, political parties and leaders have been the primary targets of disinformation. Among individual figures, the highest number of false claims, 29 in total, concerned Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman.
An analysis of data from Rumour Scanner, Fact Watch, Dismislab, Bangla Fact and The Dissent shows that 190 items of false information were circulated over the past seven days. Of these, 93 were election-related.
Among them, 29 targeted Tarique Rahman. BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee member Mirza Abbas were also victims of disinformation.
After the BNP chairman, the second most-targeted individual was Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, whose party’s activities have been banned and who was ousted from power following a mass uprising.
False information was also circulated about Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Shafiqur Rahman and interim government chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus.
The analysis shows that Tarique Rahman’s statements were distorted and false quotations were widely circulated. One such example involved a photo card, modelled on the design of a news outlet’s photo card, falsely attributing comments to Tarique Rahman regarding the marriage of his daughter, Zaima Rahman.
Fact-checking confirmed that the media...
Fact-checking organisations have identified nearly 200 pieces of false information originating from Bangladesh and circulating on Facebook over the past week. In the run-up to the national electio...