During Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary elections, disinformation proliferated on platforms like Facebook and Telegram, leading to significant confusion and voter panic. Various political factions, notably aligned with the Awami League, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), engaged in a coordinated campaign that began the night before the elections. This effort involved reviving old content, creating AI-generated deepfakes, and fabricating news to falsely claim candidate withdrawals and election cancellations.
The Daily Star documented over 100 instances of disinformation during this period, with pro-Jamaat actors being responsible for 65% of the content. Tactics included sharing old news as current incidents to frame opposition parties negatively and spreading false claims of violence to suppress voter turnout.
Both pro-Jamaat and pro-BNP groups exchanged accusations, each alleging electoral malpractices and violence by the other side. Claims of ballot stuffing were also circulated, primarily targeting Jamaat.
Additionally, attacks on mainstream media were observed, with pro-Jamaat narratives accusing media outlets of bias and complicity in a “media coup” favoring BNP. Influencers fueled these allegations, causing further distrust in traditional news.
Fact-checking organizations like Dismislab and FactWatch debunked numerous misleading claims throughout the election period, highlighting the harmful consequences of such disinformation.
