In November of this year, Rumor Scanner, a Bangladeshi fact-checking organization, identified 450 instances of misinformation circulating on the internet. This number marks the second-highest number of misinformation detections in a single month in Rumor Scanner’s history. The fact-checks for this misinformation were published on Rumor Scanner’s website through 394 reports.
Analysis indicates that the highest number of misinformation spread in November was related to political issues (305), accounting for approximately 68 percent of the total false information. Additionally, 60 instances related to national issues, 43 to environment and climate, 8 to entertainment, 4 to religious issues, 22 to international issues, 4 to sports, 1 to education, and 3 instances of misinformation related to deception were identified last month.
An analysis of the misinformation identified in November shows that video-centric misinformation was the highest (230) among these incidents. Furthermore, there were 152 instances of text-centric false information and 68 instances of image-centric misinformation. Among the identified misinformation, 364 incidents were categorized as False, 46 as Distorted, 39 as Misleading, and 1 as Partially True.
Analyzing the identified misinformation, Rumor Scanner observed that 220 instances of misinformation involved men, while 93 instances involved women during this period.
At the same time, the misinformation was categorized into four age groups based on the pattern of their spread. The analysis shows that the highest number of misinformation spread during this period involved the Elderly (aged 60 years or more) with 142 instances. Additionally, 5 instances involved Children (aged 0 to 17 years), 71 instances involved the Youth (aged 18 to 35 years), and 90 instances involved the Middle-Aged (aged 36 to 59 years).
As for the platforms, Facebook saw the most spread of misinformation last month, totaling 400 instances. Evidence of the promotion of misinformation was also found on Instagram (148), TikTok (110), YouTube (42), X (21), and Threads (at least 16). Even the country’s media was not excluded from the list of misinformation spreaders. Rumor Scanner observed the dissemination of misinformation in 17 incidents across several domestic media outlets. The amount of disinformation propagated by Indian media concerning Bangladesh last month was 5 instances.
The issue of communal propaganda spreading centered on Bangladesh has been under discussion for the past several months. Rumor Scanner identified 7 instances of communal propaganda in November. Among these, in 6 incidents, evidence of disinformation was found to be spread from social media accounts and pages identifying as Bangladeshi.
The observations by the Rumor Scanner team show that nine pieces of misinformation were circulated in November involving the current interim government. To understand the nature of the false information, Rumor Scanner divided them into two separate categories. Considering the spread of misinformation that favors the government as positive and the spread of misinformation that opposes it as negative, Rumor Scanner found that in all these instances of misinformation, the government was presented negatively.
Twenty-five instances of misinformation were spread about the Chief Adviser of the interim government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in November. In almost 96 percent of these cases, he was presented negatively. In addition, two instances of misinformation involved government adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul, while one instance each involved Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, A F M Khalid Hossain, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and Farida Akhter.
Besides, Five instances of misinformation were identified involving the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary, Shofiqul Alam, and one involving the Deputy Press Secretary, Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.
The 13th National Parliament Election is being widely discussed everywhere. The spread of disinformation centered around this election has increased significantly over the past several months. In November, 81 instances of disinformation related to the election were identified, which is the highest number of detections among all previous months this year.
Rumor Scanner’s analysis of the fact-checks for November shows that among the parties active in politics during this period, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), its affiliated organizations, and its leaders/activists were the subject of the highest number of instances of disinformation (119). Of these, 48 instances of disinformation involved the BNP as a party, and nearly 94% of these provided an opportunity to create a negative impression of the party. Furthermore, 11 instances of disinformation (all presenting him negatively) were spread involving the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman. During this period, five instances of disinformation involved the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and one involved the Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal.
Following the BNP, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, its affiliated organizations, and its leaders/activists were the subject of the highest number of instances of disinformation (84). Of these, 48 instances of disinformation involved Jamaat as a party. Almost 77% of these provided an opportunity to create a negative impression of the party. During this period, six instances of disinformation were identified involving the party’s Ameer, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, all of which presented him negatively. Fourteen instances of disinformation were spread involving Jamaat’s student organization, the Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, during this time.
Additionally, Rumor Scanner identified 28 instances of disinformation in November involving the National Citizens Party (NCP) and its leaders/activists. Of these, seven instances of disinformation involved the NCP as a party, and almost 86% of these provided an opportunity to create a negative impression of the party.
The banned party, the Bangladesh Awami League, its affiliated/fraternal organizations, and its leaders/activists were the subject of 156 instances of disinformation in November. Of these, 86 instances of disinformation involved the Awami League as a party, and nearly 93% of these provided an opportunity to create a positive impression of the party. Evidence was found of 34 instances of disinformation (94% of which were positive) being spread involving the party’s president, Sheikh Hasina, during this period. Furthermore, 19 instances of disinformation involving the banned party’s student organization, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, and 3 instances involving the Jubo League were identified this month.
The state forces are also not escaping the wrath of misinformation. In November, Rumor Scanner observed 23 instances of misinformation regarding the Bangladesh Army, including nine involving the Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman. Furthermore, Rumor Scanner identified 13 instances of misinformation involving the Bangladesh Police, two each involving the Bangladesh Air Force and the Bangladesh Navy, and one each involving the RAB, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Force.
Analyzing the misinformation identified in November, Rumor Scanner found that 74 instances of fake content were created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) during this period. Among these, 17 instances were identified as deepfake content.
In November, three main events or issues were linked to the spread of misinformation. Of these, the Awami League’s lockdown announcement on November 13th led to the highest number of disinformation instances identified (78). Additionally, 24 instances of disinformation were identified regarding the Sheikh Hasina verdict issue, and 41 instances regarding the earthquake issue.
The use of media names, logos, headlines, and fake/forged photocards to spread misinformation is seen to be increasing again. In November, this method was used to circulate 93 instances of misinformation involving 27 domestic and foreign news outlets across 87 incidents.
Issued by
Tanvir Mahatab Abir
Senior Fact Checker,
Rumor Scanner Bangladesh
[email protected]
