Misinformation Surge Grips Bangladesh as Fabricated Videos Target Sensitive Social Issues
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A surge of coordinated misinformation regarding violence against women and children has inundated social media platforms in Bangladesh, complicating the public discourse on increasingly sensitive societal issues. According to an investigation by five prominent local fact-checking organizations—Rumor Scanner, Bangla Fact, FactWatch, The Descent, and Dismislab—at least 102 distinct instances of disinformation were identified within the past week alone.
The investigation reveals a troubling trend where malicious actors exploit authentic videos of unrelated incidents, repurposing them with inflammatory captions to serve political agendas or incite communal hostility. In one prominent case, a video purportedly showing a young woman being gang-raped and discarded in a river in Kishoreganj was debunked; fact-checkers confirmed the footage actually captured a rescue mission from May involving a teenager who had accidentally fallen into a canal while bathing.
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Political actors are frequently weaponized in these narratives, with disinformation campaigns often framing specific groups as either perpetrators or victims to polarize public sentiment. Fact-checkers noted that 54 of the identified false claims relied on manipulated video content. For instance, footage of a child being assaulted in Comilla over a dispute involving a lychee tree was falsely presented as an attack by a political leader’s associates, while a separate video of a drug-related assault was misrepresented as political violence involving the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The spread of misinformation extends beyond domestic borders. In some instances, graphic footage from countries including India, the Philippines, Turkey, and Taiwan has been rebranded as local violence or natural disasters to create artificial outrage. Similarly, deepfakes, edited photographs, and satirical content are frequently presented as legitimate news. This includes the digital manipulation of placards in political protest photos and the fabrication of news outlet “photocards” to falsely attribute statements to political figures and government advisors.
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The scope of the disinformation also encompasses major economic and security concerns, with fraudulent reports surfacing regarding banking institutions, border security, and the intentions of the interim government. Investigators found that fabricated content—ranging from the purported return of ousted leaders to false quotes attributed to student movement coordinators—is being deployed systematically to erode public trust. As fact-checkers continue to work through this backlog of deceit, the findings underscore a growing challenge for digital literacy and the integrity of the information ecosystem in Bangladesh.
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