[🇧🇩] Disinformation/Misinformation about Bangladesh in National/International Media

[Saif]

Govt trashes claims linking Prof Yunus to NCP, election opposition

Chief Adviser's press wing on Sunday said a false claim began circulating on some social media accounts and a propaganda website after the interim government considered elections for February 2026. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and the interim government have enjoyed "broad public backing

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Govt trashes claims linking Prof Yunus to NCP, election opposition

UNB
Published :
Jun 16, 2025 00:23
Updated :
Jun 16, 2025 00:23

Chief Adviser's press wing on Sunday said a false claim began circulating on some social media accounts and a propaganda website after the interim government considered elections for February 2026.

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and the interim government have enjoyed "broad public backing, including support from major political parties" such as BNP, Jamaat, NCP and AB Party, said the press wing, trashing the propaganda.

These parties have endorsed the interim government's efforts to transition towards democracy, implement reforms and deliver justice for the crimes committed by the former autocratic Awami League regime during the July-August crackdown, it said.

"Let's stay committed to factual information and stand firm against the spread of false and divisive propaganda," said the press wing.

Widely circulated propaganda falsely claims that the public does not support elections under Prof Yunus and cites an unsubstantiated claim that 80% of Bangladeshis want an end to his leadership. It also asserts-without evidence-that Prof Yunus founded the National Citizens Party (NCP) to seize political power, according to th Fact-Checking window of the press wing.

The rumor first appeared on a pro-Awami League propaganda site, BDvortex, which published a misleading headline claiming "80% want Dr. Yunus out," but failed to cite any data, statements, or sources, it claimed.

In fact, the figure was only mentioned in the headline and not in the article itself. Following this, several pro-Awami League social media users began sharing the claims widely, said the press wing.

"BDvortex is not a credible news platform. It has no legal status, no listed address and no verifiable journalists. Its sole purpose appears to be spreading politically motivated disinformation against Bangladesh's democratic efforts."

Contrary to the claims, Prof Yunus did not form or endorse the NCP, it said, adding that the party was founded by a group of students who led the July-August 2024 mass uprising.

Nahid Islam established the NCP after resigning from his advisory role in the interim government.

There is no evidence linking Prof Yunus or the interim government to the formation of the NCP, said the press wing. "No reliable statistics or credible research support these propaganda narratives."​

 

[Saif]

Social media users asked to avoid AI-generated deepfake videos made featuring CA

The Chief Adviser’s Press Wing has urged social media users to be more cautious and avoid being deceived by AI-generated deepfake videos made showing Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus by gamblers. “Gambling ads targeting Bangladeshi users on social media aren’t new, but they

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Social media users asked to avoid AI-generated deepfake videos made featuring CA

FE Online Desk
Published :
Jun 16, 2025 23:39
Updated :
Jun 16, 2025 23:39

The Chief Adviser’s Press Wing has urged social media users to be more cautious and avoid being deceived by AI-generated deepfake videos made showing Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus by gamblers.

“Gambling ads targeting Bangladeshi users on social media aren’t new, but they’ve taken a disturbing turn-now exploiting the huge popularity of Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh government-gamblers have been producing AI-generated deepfake videos to mimic news reports and fake statements in a bid to attract the public into their sites,” the press wing said in a statement on Monday.

The statement was posted on the press wing’s verified Facebook page - CA Press Wing Facts.

A recent example involves a deepfake video circulated on Facebook, falsely showing Prof Yunus endorsing a gambling app, according to BSS report.

“In this manipulated footage, Dr. Yunus appears to invite people to gamble for financial gain.

“Facebook user Jwfrh Hibbert shared the video, where Dr. Yunus is seen stating that the government launched an app that promises users significant returns on their investments,” the statement read.

In the video, Prof Yunus was seen saying “We tested our product with a small group of volunteers. Each of them earned over 555,000 BDT in the first week. I’m ready to return your money from my own pocket if you don’t make at least 37,000 BDT in the first week. So far, no one has failed to achieve the result.”

However, investigation reveals that the video is AI-manipulated. A reverse image search shows the footage was taken from Al Jazeera’s programme Talk to Al Jazeera, aired on April 27, 2025, and recorded at their Doha headquarters, according to the press wing.

In the actual interview, Prof Yunus said nothing about betting or any government-launched investment apps. The misleading video also featured the bdnews24.com logo-despite that outlet never releasing such a video.

Upon reviewing the Facebook account that posted it, investigators found it was created on June 14, 2022, and appeared to be operated by multiple users based in Lithuania.

The account has only four posts, all promoting a gambling app called Blue Live.

“The video is entirely fake and AI-generated. The voice is robotic and does not match Dr. Yunus’ real voice,” the statement said.

This is not an isolated case. Since the interim government formed in August 2024, numerous deepfake videos featuring Prof Yunus have surfaced across Meta’s platforms.

In some, he’s falsely shown promoting gaming apps as solutions to Bangladesh’s poverty and unemployment. Others claim the initiative was taken to support student movements or help flood victims, according to the press wing.

“In another deepfake, Dr. Yunus appears to promote a betting site named Crazy Time Bangladesh. This, too, is fabricated.

“The manipulated video featuring Crazy Time Bangladesh falsely uses Dr. Yunus as its spokesperson. In reality, the video was created using digital editing tools,” the statement said.

A reverse image search of key frames links the fake content to an original News24 YouTube video from August 10, titled: “Rangpur must become the number one district: Dr. Yunus”.

Upon close examination, it is evident that scenes in the fake gambling ad-Dr. Yunus’ clothing, background, and nearby individuals-perfectly match those in the original News24 video.

“We urge social media users to be more cautious and avoid being deceived by such deepfake videos,” the statement read.​

 

[Saif]

Yunus urges Meta to find ways to fight disinformation more effectively

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday urged Meta, which operates several social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger and WhatsApp, to find an effective way to combat disinformation that disrupts social harmony and spreads hatred. &ldquo

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Yunus urges Meta to find ways to fight disinformation more effectively

Published :
Jun 25, 2025 22:31
Updated :
Jun 25, 2025 22:38

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday urged Meta, which operates several social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger and WhatsApp, to find an effective way to combat disinformation that disrupts social harmony and spreads hatred.

“This (disinformation) is a big problem. You must find a way to fight it,” said the Chief Adviser, UNB reports.

Prof Yunus made the comment when Simon Milner, VP, Public Policy, APAC at Meta and Ruzan Sarwar, Public Policy Manager, met him at the State Guest House Jamuna.

''Bangladesh is a densely populated country. One wrong word can destabilise the whole country. Some people do it deliberately,” said the Chief Adviser.

Milner said they were ready to engage with the interim government of Bangladesh to counter disinformation, especially ahead of the upcoming general election next year, and had had meetings with different Bangladeshi authorities and rights groups in the past few days.

“We have had a dedicated team for Bangladesh for the last five years,” he said.

The Chief Adviser said Meta platforms, especially Facebook, have the potential to promote business growth, but at the same time, they can be potentially dangerous provided they do not maintain ethical standards.

Chief Adviser's Special Assistant on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, was among others present on the occasion, according to Chief Adviser's press wing.

Taiyeb urged Meta to increase its Bangla language proficiency, as Meta LLM AI is very much dependent on the English language, which is not helpful.

On Tuesday, the Meta officials held a meeting with ICT ministry officials together, where the Bangladesh side, referring to recent researches, urged Meta to increase investment in Bengali LLM & AI based sentiment analysis in Bengali, as well as to increase the number of human reviewers to tackle fake news and information.

The ICT Division has called on Meta to strengthen the enforcement of its community standards in the context of Bangladesh by recruiting more Bangladeshi content reviewers who possess a deeper understanding of local language, culture and sensitivities.

Besides, the Bangladeshi side has requested Meta to deploy cache servers and edge routers within the country to improve service efficiency, optimise bandwidth and protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Representatives of Bangladesh Police, BTRC who were present at Tuesday’s meeting, asked Meta to improve the processing time for taking down any harmful posts to protect citizen safety.

The police also asked for Meta’s cooperation in a proactive and faster response in threat detection, crime detection, misinformation/disinformation alert, inciting mob violence alert and suicide alert.​

 

[Saif]

Claims that polls to be held under PR attributing it to CA false: Press Wing

The widely circulated claim that Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus stated the next election would be conducted under the Proportional Representation (PR) system is false, Chief Adviser’s press wing said on Saturday. Recently some social media accounts circulated a false Photo Card, claiming

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Claims that polls to be held under PR attributing it to CA false: Press Wing

UNB
Published :
Jul 05, 2025 21:52
Updated :
Jul 05, 2025 21:52

The widely circulated claim that Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus stated the next election would be conducted under the Proportional Representation (PR) system is false, Chief Adviser’s press wing said on Saturday.

Recently some social media accounts circulated a false Photo Card, claiming that the Chief Adviser said that the upcoming 13th national election in Bangladesh would be conducted under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, according to CA Press Wing facts.

No such statement has been made by the Chief Adviser, said the Press wing, stressing that the claim is entirely baseless, falsely using his name to spread misinformation.

While the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system has been a topic of discussion among political parties in the Consensus Commission dialogue, no final decision has been reached on its adoption.

Earlier, on June 26, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin held a courtesy meeting with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Speaking to reporters at his office, the CEC clarified that although the meeting involved discussions on preparations for the upcoming national election, there was no conversation about the election date or the voting method. Importantly, he made no mention of adopting a PR system.​

 

[Saif]

How to address the root causes of disinformation sprees

The spread of disinformation, rumour and misleading content on social media has become a critical challenge thes days, particularly ahead of the national election.

www.thedailystar.net

How to address the root causes of disinformation sprees

By T.I.M. Nurul Kabir

The spread of disinformation, rumour and misleading content on social media has become a critical challenge thes days, particularly ahead of the national election. The government has taken a tough stance to curb the insidious circulation of fake and misleading information. A new section 73(A) has been added to the Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance (RPO), which says any deliberate act of creating and disseminating misleading information, images, videos, audio or any other content with the intent of influence or malign the electoral process would be treated as a corrupt practice and be punishable. The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) has formed a special cell to monitor online and social media to prevent fake information, misleading content and rumours ahead of the election.


However, concerns have been raised regarding overreliance on legal measures without ensuring due transparency and impartiality, which could be detrimental, and that a multi-pronged approach is needed to gain public trust and combat fake news and misinformation effectively. While legal measures, regulatory mechanisms and technologically well-equipped fact-checking cells are important, the rooted causes of spreading rumours and fake news should also be addressed.

Proliferation of fake news in political campaigns, particularly during elections, has become a global phenomenon. Social media and biased reporting on a number of news portals can drive political polarisation and social fragmentation by creating the echo chamber effect. People in echo chambers hold similar views and ideas and are drawn to information that supports their existing beliefs, creating a biased sense of identity.

Social media algorithms designed to keep users engaged determine which content is displayed to whom based on previous browsing activity and demographic information. The selective display of content aligned with a user’s preference further entrenches fragmentation and polarisation. While users view, share and interact more and more with the content of their preference, every click is monetised by some relevant party.

Heightened fragmentation and polarisation during the political transition are creating critical challenges for social cohesion in Bangladesh. Social cohesion is the bond between societal actors and institutions. Policymakers recognise the importance of social bonds in driving economic growth and sustainable development. The UN SDG pledges to build an equitable society based on inclusive growth, equality, and peace, where no one is left behind.

The heads of states and governments and high representatives at the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2), held in Qatar on November 4-6, 2025, acknowledged the urgent need to address profound social challenges, especially poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, and address their underlying and structural causes and their distressing consequences. The Doha Political Declaration of the WSSD2 recognises that poverty eradication, promotion of productive employment and decent work for all, and social integration are interrelated and mutually reinforcing, and therefore, all three objectives need to be pursued simultaneously.

Bangladesh has achieved rapid improvements in several of the social development indicators. Several NGO programmes and projects have facilitated income-generating activities among poor and marginalised women, fostering broad-based social development. Mobile telecommunication services have driven rapid digital and financial inclusion in Bangladesh. However, the pace of employment generation has remained very low. Data from the Labour Force Survey 2024 shows that unemployment is particularly high among educated youth. Lack of employment opportunity and rising inequality in wealth distribution are among the key causes of general discontent and lowered trust in institutions.

Escalation of disinformation and misinformation on social media is more of an effect, and not the root cause of this widespread discontent, low trust in institutions or social fragmentation. Among the main causes of the proliferation of fake news, lack of knowledge and low literacy come first. Dishonesty and partisan political views deeply influence people’s sentiments, creating an echo chamber effect, driving social fragmentation.

The problem of tackling fake news and misleading content on online platforms is a complex and multifaceted crisis deeply rooted in ethical, social and cultural norms and attitudes, as well as education level, institutional capacity, transparency, and the commonly prevalent political power-seeking tactics.

To combat this challenge, policymakers, researchers and civil society need to take the initiative to identify the nature and extent of Bangladesh’s social relationships as well as people’s interactions with formal institutions. By doing so, it can be determined how the positive manifestations of trust, cooperation and institutional efficiency could be strengthened to enhance social cohesion and economic development.​