The new face of disinformation in post-Hasina Bangladesh

On 10 October, the Chattogram Cultural Academy performed two songs at a Durga puja cultural event organised by the Chattogram Hindu community at the JM Sen Hall. 

Sajal Dutta, the Joint General Secretary of the Puja Celebration Committee, invited the academy. Six singers from the said academy sang the famous 'Age Ki Sundar Din Kataitam' song by Baul Samrat Abdul Karim and 'Shudhu Mosalmaner Lagi Aseniko Islam' written by Chowdhury Abdul Halim.

While this incident, of a song about Islam being sung on the occasion of Durga Puja, was heavily criticised across Bangladesh, several social media posts said this never happened. Some even claimed that other songs were sung, and later an edited version was released on social media to stir communal tensions. 

Others claimed that the singers were forced to sing, while still others said the singers forced the organisers to let them go on stage.  

Indian media outlets did not lose a beat to jump on the story. Videos and news headlines surfaced, such as 'Lord Durga's Idol Vandalised,' 'Islamic Songs Played During Durga Puja Festival In Bangladesh,' 'Muhammad Yunus has imposed restrictions on Durga Puja celebrations,' 'Yunus Orders Durga Puja Pause During Namaz,' 'Durga Puja Banned In Post-Hasina Bangladesh?' and many more. 

After a case was filed against seven people (Sajjal Dutta and the six performers), the stream of such fake news stopped. Dutta has also been expelled from the committee. 

The 10 October incident is only one example. Ever since Hasina's ousting on 5 August, the Awami League trope (Bangladeshi Hindus are safe under the regime) has been heavily weaponised. 

There have actually been some attacks across the country against - namely the Hindu community - in August and beyond. This series of attacks gave rise to two responses. One faction tries to create an image of Bangladesh where Hindus are unsafe (the Indian media played a key role in this as well) through exaggeration and fear-mongering, and another is in complete denial mode.

In doing that, both factions are heavily relying on misinformation and disinformation. We take a look at how the nature and spread of misinformation changed after Hasina's ouster.

The last decade

Misinformation and disinformation surged in Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina's leadership, particularly in her second consecutive term starting in 2014. As more people used digital platforms for political discourse and overall access to the internet expanded across the country, so did the potential to spread misinformation and disinformation.

In 2017, BD Fact Check, a Facebook-based fact-checking platform, started debunking fake news and misinformation. Minhaj Aman, one of the earliest fact-checkers in the country, shared some examples from that time.  

"Back then the government had a coordinated disinformation network that used to spread well-thought-out and planned fake news that served their purpose. Hundreds of Facebook IDs and FB pages were used to spread this information. 

There have been instances where one single fake news was shared from 33 Facebook accounts in just six seconds. It was incredibly coordinated," Minhaj recalled.

Minhaj is the current lead researcher at Dismislab, a Dhaka-based fact-checking organisation. 

Bangladesh under Hasina witnessed a shrinking space for independent media with laws like the Digital Security Act (2018), later known as CSA. 

This atmosphere led to state-driven narratives dominating much of the mainstream media, which grew more cautious about publishing news against the regime. At the same time, criticism of the government was also heavily curtailed on social media platforms out of fear of the DSA Act. 

The same platforms, then, saw various pro-government fake news spread.

Government-aligned sources such as the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), political opposition and private actors have all been accused of spreading misinformation, sometimes to promote party agendas or distract from governance issues. 

False information about economic progress or security threats was also used to manipulate the public.

Communal violence between the Hindus and Muslims has always been one of the major weapons of spreading disinformation. In October 2021, communal violence broke out in Cumilla when the image of the Holy Quran being desecrated spread far and wide, igniting the last communal violence on that scale. Social media played a key role in the rapid spread of mis-disinformation during that event. 

Past and present: The mechanics of mis-disinformation 

In the post-Hasina regime, the model has changed. 

"Roughly two groups are spreading disinformation –  there is an NRB (Non-Resident Bangladeshi) team of the Awami regime, who publish and spread such news from outside the country. The other group is trying to spread religious disinformation," Minhaj added. 

He continued, "During the Hasina regime, such incidents [spread of mi-disinformation resulting in communal violence] were mostly event-based, meaning during major puja or celebrations of the Hindu community. But now it is not a season or event-based. Almost every day after 5 August, you will find someone posting about the houses and temples being set ablaze or shattered," Minhaj said.  

Religious disinformation is being spread by targeting both Hindus and Muslims, exploiting religious sentiments and essentially weaponising it. This widens the scope for communal tensions and violence, which Bangladesh is no stranger to. 

Awami League supporters like Sushanta Das Gupta, Omi Rahman Pial etc have developed a new disinformation network for the Awami League, named the A team, according to Minhaj. They coordinate and post the same thing at the same time. On 19 October, they shared an alleged call record of interim government adviser Asif Nazrul; a few days back, they tried to smear interim government advisers as pro-Pakistan enthusiasts. 

Although they are not as strong as the Hasina government's CRI, they are trying to develop a network. "After 5 August, we saw a rise in protests and rallies held by Muslim religious persons in Bangladesh, and students and Islamist politicians came to the fore. This is something the Indian media is weaponising to publish exaggerated news on their platforms," explained Minhaj. 

Exploiting fears and uncertainty

According to Minhaj, Indian media is aggressively active now. Take Taslima Nasreen's case, who relentlessly claimed that Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the chief adviser of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus, is the leader of Hizb-ut-Tahrir. 

Anandabazar Patrika, one of West Bengal's leading dailies, quoted Nasreen. Subsequently, Nasrin shared a photo card from a Facebook page called Friday Post, which stated: "Mahfuj Alam is the leader of Bangladesh's banned organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir – Anandabazar Patrika."

She added no caption, implying that Mahfuj is the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir is a fact, since it had been verified by a reputable mainstream media outlet like Anandabazar Patrika. Can you see the convoluted cycle of information designed to mislead people? 

India's anti-Bangladesh sentiment packaged in disinformation saw a viral surge. Take for example the Twitter account called Baba Banaras posting "Reportedly over 500 Hindus have been killed, 100s of Hindu women r@ped, Dozens of Hindu temples have been burnt in ongoing attacks of terrorists of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. Where are those Urduwoodiyas who were crying for Gaza, Rafah & Palestine?"

Back home, on 9 October, fake news went viral on social media claiming that there had been an argument between Dr Yunus and Army Chief Waqar-uz-Zaman. A Facebook account named Yasmin Sultana Pollen likely started the rumour. 

Fact-checking platforms like Rumour Scanner and Zoombangla.com debunked the story and found that most of the people spreading rumours and fake news are expats. Their Facebook activity also shows that they are Awami League supporters.

In a volatile and vulnerable climate, with the wide reach of social media platforms, mis-disinformation poses a deadly challenge. It can manipulate people and incite violence in a country which only recently went through a bloody massacre.  

An unstable political period can open up opportunities for various factions to use disinformation as a tool for political gain. 

According to Minhaj, in the present situation, there is a growing need for media literacy programmes to help citizens critically assess information, particularly in rural areas where internet penetration is increasing rapidly. "It should be included in the school curriculum, now that young people are accessing the internet more," he said. 

Also, tech platforms like Facebook and YouTube must be held accountable for the content they host. There is a need for stronger moderation policies tailored to Bangladesh's context as well as more investments in fact-checking by these platforms.

While this might bear long-term benefits, Minhaj said, "For now, avoid sharing and consuming any content that makes you excessively emotional- happy, angry, or excited. These contents tend to be fake more than others."