Without fact-checking, Meta is lethal for Bangladesh

Illustration: TBS.

In 2019, violent communal tensions erupted in Bhola, Bangladesh. A fake conversation circulated on Facebook; and the result was devastating. At least four people were killed, over a hundred injured, and a fragile society was pushed further into communal violence. 

This is not an isolated incident. From the destruction of Buddhist temples in Cox's Bazar in 2012, to the violence in Nasirnagar in 2016, and the attacks during Durga Puja in Cumilla in 2021, the pattern is clear – misinformation on Facebook made Bangladesh suffer dearly over the years. 

However, things turned crazy when vested groups in India took Facebook and X as means to launch an unfounded yet vicious campaign against Bangladesh, using fake videos and imagery of a perceived 'genocide' against minorities after the fall of Sheikh Hasina. They resorted to social media to discredit Bangladesh's uprising as a communal event sprung out of hatred. 

Misinformation campaigns, often politically or religiously motivated, thrive in most countries across the world due to low digital literacy. In the Indian subcontinent, communal sensitivities may run high if the virtual platforms are directed towards it. 

Yet, in a move that seems to satisfy Donald Trump's hatred for fact-checking over accountability, Meta has decided to end its fact-checking programme in the United States. This shift, while focused on the American market, sets a worrying precedent for South Asia, where the stakes are far higher.

Meta's alternative to professional fact-checkers appears to be a system similar to X's (formerly Twitter) Community Notes, which relies on user-generated inputs to flag misinformation. While this might seem democratic, experts argue it is highly susceptible to manipulation.

"The Community Notes system is numerical in its approach and therefore gameable by a large group of note-takers who can vote up and down misinformation in a coordinated manner based on their liking," says Shafquat Rabbee, a Bangladeshi-American geopolitical analyst based in the US. 

"Nation states and disinformation laboratories may have the resources to burn for such efforts, and Twitter's success to fight such distributed assault on "truth" remained questionable," he added.

Community Notes also lack the immediacy required to combat viral misinformation. Notes take time to evolve, often leaving harmful content to circulate unchecked before being flagged. In a region like South Asia, where religious and political tensions are volatile, the consequences of even a few hours of unverified content can be catastrophic.

Bangladesh, in particular, is ill-equipped to handle such a shift. Without professional oversight, the digital information ecosystem in Bangladesh risks descending into chaos, exacerbating existing social divides.

Facebook is the primary social media platform in Bangladesh, often used not just for personal connections but as a de facto news source. This makes the platform's content moderation policies especially critical. Past incidents, including the Bhola and Nasirnagar attacks, highlight how easily Facebook can become a tool for violence when misinformation spreads unchecked.

Bangladesh has already faced challenges in holding social media platforms accountable. Without professional fact-checkers, the government's capacity to combat misinformation is only weakened, increasing the likelihood of politically motivated disinformation campaigns and communal unrest.

Facebook is the primary social media platform in Bangladesh, often used not just for personal connections but as a de facto news source. This makes the platform's content moderation policies especially critical. Past incidents, including the Bhola and Nasirnagar attacks, highlight how easily Facebook can become a tool for violence when misinformation spreads unchecked.

Professor Mofizur Rahman of the Department of Mass Communication & Journalism, Dhaka University, emphasises the critical importance of fact-checking in today's digital age. With social media's pervasive influence in our lives, we are frequently exposed to information, misinformation, and deep fakes. In this context, fact-checking has become a vital tool, and there are ongoing efforts to train individuals in Bangladesh for this purpose.

"While fact-checking is crucial in our context, Meta's own data suggests their fact-checkers may be biased in their approach. This raises important questions about the reliability and impartiality of their fact-checking process. It's possible that Meta's analysis has focused on global data rather than specific data from Bangladesh. Regardless, fact-checking remains essential in Bangladesh, and it needs to be carried out more effectively and rigorously," Professor Mofizur told The Business Standard. 

"In the event that Meta ceases fact-checking operations in Bangladesh, we must prioritise and incentivise independent organizations to ensure the continued availability of fact-checking services. Fact-checking is fundamental to a democratic society, as it supports the public's right to access accurate information," he added. 

In light of Meta's decision, experts advise Bangladesh to engage with the company in advance to ensure that fact-checking resources are maintained, if not expanded. Reallocating resources saved from the US fact-checking programme to regions like South Asia could be both a responsible and strategic move for Meta, given the platform's growing user base in Asia.

Meta must also recognise that relying solely on user-driven systems like Community Notes will not work in regions with high susceptibility to misinformation. 

"Bangladesh will not have the media literacy to find enough sophisticated community note makers. Community notes are not available in Bangladesh as of now anyway. The only concern is whether social media platforms push down the American standard for user driven misinformation fighting tools to Bangladesh, in light of the latest US development," Shafquat Rabbee said.

"It would be bad for South Asia, where troll firms remain cheap to operate and anyone with motivation to game the system will have the luxury of large numbers of motivated users on their side," Rabbee continued. 

"Without professional fact checkers staying in the ring as referees, user driven fact-checking in South Asia will become unmanageable. Community notes take time to evolve after a misinformation goes viral, and misinformation often stays online with an added community note at the bottom of the post. Such standards may be problematic for religious or politically charged misinformation in Bangladesh or South Asia in general," he added. 

At a time when misinformation continues to disrupt societies and incite violence, fact-checking is not a luxury, and in Bangladesh – given the political and geopolitical sensitivities it's an essential tool that cannot be overlooked. 

"Bangladesh should ask Facebook to recruit more fact-checkers for Bangladesh, now that they are going to save on fact-checking expenses in the expensive US market. Reallocated budget from US to Asia would be good for Facebook's business as well in the still-expanding Asian market," Shafquat added. 

While convincing Meta to continue their fact-checking in Bangladesh may be challenging if they find bias in their analysis of Bangladesh data, Professor Mofizur said. "It is still worth pursuing a dialogue. There's no harm in discussion," he added.