Rumour Scanner flags 268 fake cases last month
Staff Reporter :
Rumour Scanner, a leading fact-checking organisation, detected 268 instances of misinformation circulating online in February.
Political misinformation topped the list, with 127 false claims making up 47 per cent of the total, according to reports published on its website.
Additionally, 73 false claims were related to national issues, 10 to international affairs, 18 to religion, eight to entertainment and literature, five to education, 16 to fraud, and seven to sports.
Rumour Scanner reported that the majority of these cases involved fact-based misinformation, amounting to 108 instances.
Additionally, 64 cases were related to misleading images, while 96 cases involved misleading videos.
Among the detected misinformation, 164 were categorised as outright false, 64 as misleading, and 40 as manipulated.
In terms of platforms, Facebook was the primary source of misinformation, with 250 cases recorded.
Meanwhile, X (formerly Twitter) had 44 cases, TikTok had 16, YouTube had 38, Instagram had 21, and Threads had at least three instances of misinformation.
Even mainstream media was not exempt from this trend, as Rumor Scanner found that at least 10 cases of misinformation were published by multiple national media outlets.
The fact-checking organisation further noted that since last year, Indian media outlets and social media accounts based in India have increasingly spread misinformation involving Bangladesh.
This trend continued in February, with nine cases of misinformation about Bangladesh published by Indian media and three instances of false claims about Bangladesh circulating from Indian social media accounts and pages.
The issue of communal misinformation has also been a topic of concern in recent months.
In February, Rumor Scanner identified 20 such cases, with half of them originating from Indian social media accounts and pages.
Rumour Scanner’s analysis revealed that 16 cases of misinformation in February were linked to the current interim government.
The organisation categorised these claims into two types-those that favoured the government (positive misinformation) and those that opposed it (negative misinformation).
Their findings showed that in 87.5% of cases, the misinformation had a negative impact on the government.
The interim government’s chief adviser, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, was the subject of 16 misinformation cases.
Among other government advisers, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury was linked to four cases, Nahid Islam to two, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan to three, and AFM Khalid Hossain, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and Dr Asif Nazrul to one case each.
The chief adviser’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, was also associated with three instances of misinformation.
Regarding political parties, Rumour Scanner observed that all misinformation related to the ruling Bangladesh Awami League and its now-banned student wing, Chhatra League, tended to create a positive perception of the party.
On the other hand, misinformation targeted the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), its chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, and secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The organisation also identified 13 cases of misinformation linked to Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, including three specifically concerning its leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman.
Additionally, 16 misinformation cases were associated with the party’s student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Rumour Scanner found that false information was also spread about the newly formed student organisation Bangladesh Democratic Student Union, as well as the National Citizens’ Party led by Nahid Islam, who played a key role in the July uprising against discrimination.
Even state security forces were not spared from misinformation. The organisation found false claims involving Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the Bangladesh Air Force, and the Bangladesh Police.
Rumour Scanner’s investigation team also detected 14 false reports about deaths of various well-known figures.
Additionally, they identified cases where old videos, unrelated incidents, or footage from other countries were misused to spread misinformation about robberies.
Fake news was also propagated using forged media logos, headlines, and manipulated photo cards.
In total, 51 cases of misinformation were found involving 47 incidents, affecting 32 national and international media outlets.
Apart from categorising misinformation, Rumour Scanner stated that it had also published a fact-based investigative report last month.