Shawdesh desk:

Bangladeshi fact-checking initiative Rumor Scanner has found that about 72 per cent of social media accounts spreading fake and misinformation against Bangladesh are located in India.

The fact checking body today released a report titled ‘India’s disinformation flood on Bangladesh: What’s actually happening?’, showing how Indian media, alongside social media, are regularly spreading false information about the Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 in 2024.

The report said, ‘In the wake of the student-led mass uprising in Bangladesh in August of this year, the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina fell. Before the current interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus took office on August 8, political attacks increased due to the stagnation of the administration and law enforcement agencies. At that time minorities were also affected’.

However, the Rumor Scanner found through its investigations that while many attacks occurred against those with Hindu religious identities due to their political affiliations or grievances, numerous incidents were falsely propagated as communal attacks.

X accounts operated from India and several Indian media outlets played a significant role in spreading these propagandas, it said

Between August 5 and 13, Rumor Scanner’s investigation unit identified 50 accounts on the microblogging site X (formerly twitter) that had disseminated various images, videos, and information related to the August events in Bangladesh, presenting them in a communal light.

Rumor Scanner found evidence of the propagation of communal misinformation and false information in at least one post from each of these accounts as these posts, disseminated between August 5 and 13, were viewed over 15.4 million times.

The fact checking body estimates that these misinformations reached 10 to 12 times the number of people at that time on multiple other accounts and media.

The investigation unit has found: ‘72% of the accounts spreading fake and misinformation are located in India. Among the account holders, there are many responsible individuals. Even several mainstream media outlets in India have propagated this false information. This disinformation flood was so powerful that it was not confined to India; even well-known public figures from different countries have promoted these claims”.

The spread of communal misinformation between India and Bangladesh is not new. However, fighting against such a large volume of disinformation in such a short time in August was quite challenging for Rumor Scanner.

‘We worked tirelessly day and night. During this time, false information on various sensitive issues in Bangladesh has also spread beyond social media and reached the Indian media,’ it said.

For instance, several Indian media outlets claimed in August that bans on several banned extremist organizations had been lifted in Bangladesh. Rumor Scanner verified and found this claim to be false.

Days passed, and while the intensity of the misinformation decreased, it didn’t entirely stop. Over the next few months, the same accounts, as well as many others, continued to spread misinformation related to Bangladesh. Communal misinformation was particularly noticeable.

Rumor Scanner noted that, ‘Every year, around the time of Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival for Hindus, there is an increase in communal propaganda, misinformation, false information, and above all, rumors. This year was no exception’.

The fact checking body’s team has verified two such claims (1, 2) from Indian X accounts, which have been viewed at least 550,000 times.

After this issue, Indian media, alongside social media, regularly spread false information about the interim government.

‘False claims such as Dr Yunus’s physical illness or Dr Yunus fleeing to France after Trump’s victory were widely propagated by the Indian media. Additionally, a false claim circulated on social media, where a man named Abdullah Al Mahfuz, who was arrested in 2019 as a Hizbut Tahrir leader in Chattogram, was falsely claimed to be Adviser Mahfuj. Rumor Scanner confirmed that the two individuals are different,’ the report said.

‘On November 10, when the Awami League announced the commemoration of Shaheed Noor Hossain Day, a claim went viral on numerous X accounts stating that a Hindu woman was raped while participating in this programme. This explosive claim, shared in posts reaching nearly 800,000 people, was proven false by Rumor Scanner,’ it added.

Additionally, in November, an Indian television channel named ‘Republic Bangla’ falsely claimed that a Pakistani ship carrying weapons and ammunition had arrived at the Chittagong port, the investigation team found.

The report said a new wave of significant disinformation, primarily driven by Indians, began again in late November.

‘On November 25, the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, the spokesperson of the Bangladesh United Hindu Awakening Joint Front, on charges of sedition for allegedly desecrating the national flag in Dhaka. The following day, when he was produced before a court in Chattogram, his bail plea was rejected. This led to tension in the court premises, resulting in a clash where a lawyer named Saiful Islam was stabbed to death’.

‘Indian media and X accounts have been very active in reporting on this issue. Mainstream Indian media and X accounts are running a misinformation campaign on this issue. Notably, the X accounts identified by Rumor Scanner in August are leading this new wave of disinformation on X. This is quite alarming. Their posts are spreading like wildfire on the internet, given their large number of followers,’the investigation report said.

Following the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, a coordinated disinformation campaign emerged, primarily driven by Hindutva accounts spreading fake news and communal propaganda against Bangladesh, it said.

‘A distinct pattern could be observed in their approach which involving Communalizing Incidents Involving Hindu Victims, framing political violence as communal attacks, sharing videos of Muslim victims or property as those of Hindus, attempting to portray the July-August Uprising as a militant or Islamist takeover with a narrative of rising extremism, and making unsubstantiated claims of mass rape and murder of minority communities,’ the Rumor Scanner found.

It is like whenever a Hindu individual was involved in an incident as a victim, it was deliberately framed with a communal angle, even if the event stemmed from political disputes, personal conflicts, or other non-religious motives.

In particular, after the fall of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina, the party’s leaders and activists were attacked due to political and public anger. Many of these incidents have been propagated in communal form on social media.

‘Notably, such narratives were not limited to Indian social media accounts; the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) also contributed to this framing. Their reports, often exaggerated or misleading, became sources for various local and international media outlets,’ the fact checking body said.

In a report published last September, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council cited nine communal killings. However, investigative findings, including a detailed report by Netra News, debunked these claims. The investigations revealed that none of the deaths were linked to religious or sectarian motives. Instead, seven cases were attributed to political retaliation, mob violence, or criminal disputes.

An analysis of fact-checks published on the Rumor Scanner website shows that the organisation identified 59 pieces of misinformation during the August disinformation flood. While this number decreased in the following two months (four in September and seven in October), it surged again in November.

Rumor Scanner identified 31 pieces of misinformation in November. A total of 120 pieces of misinformation have been detected during this period, including 19 as of the 10 of this month (December) as Indian media has been involved in spreading these false narratives.

Rumor Scanner has published a list of 49 media outlets that have spread 13 false news items about Bangladesh between August 12 and December 5.

Besides media outlets, influential individuals from various countries, including India, have also contributed to spreading this misinformation, the report said.

This list includes at least two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians (Suvendu Adhikari, Agnimitra Pal), former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria, Salwan Momika who was accused of multiple Quran burnings in Sweden, Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin who has long been under the protection of the Indian government, and Nupur Sharma, editor of the Indian media outlet OpIndia.

Rumor Scanner’s analysis shows that the misinformation spread about Bangladesh on X after August has been viewed at least 200 million times as one of these posts has been viewed more than 10 million times.

This misinformation has spread beyond social media platforms, appearing in television and print media. As a result, countless people have been exposed to false information about Bangladesh.

While it is true that some unfortunate incidents of communal violence have occurred in Bangladesh, the real scenario is not as it has been portrayed, the Rumor Scanner said in its report.

‘The exaggerated narrative of Hindu persecution creates a distorted and overly negative scenario of Bangladesh minority conditions. This could potentially create tensions between the people of Bangladesh and India. It could also pose a threat to the security of both countries,’ it said.

The Rumor Scanner also feared that the flow of misinformation will increase in the coming days.