Bangladesh’s Battle for Truth: Fighting Disinformation After the Uprising

In recent months, Bangladesh has witnessed an alarming surge in digitally manipulated content targeting political figures, security forces, and prominent women, highlighting the growing challenge of misinformation in the country’s information ecosystem.

Online platforms have become battlegrounds where fabricated narratives gain momentum with alarming speed. A recent example involved petitions and viral hashtags like #StepDownYunus circulating widely across social media, demonstrating how false information can rapidly mobilize international attention and cross geographical boundaries to shape political discourse.

Digital rights monitors warn this represents a broader pattern. Throughout Bangladesh, AI-generated and doctored content has been strategically deployed to distort public perceptions of both civilians and government security personnel. September alone saw multiple incidents where manipulated videos falsely portrayed hill communities fleeing due to alleged aggression from the army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Other fabricated content claimed to show soldiers injured during interventions in Khagrachhari.

Fact-checking organization Dismislab has confirmed these videos actually depicted incidents from years ago—some dating back to 2018—repurposed to inflame current tensions. Despite their inaccuracy, these visual materials successfully provoked public outrage, demands for punitive measures against security forces, and deepened communal suspicions in already sensitive regions.

In another high-profile case, doctored images circulated showing press secretary Shafiqul Alam supposedly making inflammatory statements such as “Bangladesh does not run with remittance from migrant workers.” These fabricated quotes gained significant traction online before being debunked, temporarily damaging official credibility during a sensitive economic period for the country.

The manipulation extends beyond political spheres, with gender becoming a significant vulnerability factor in targeted misinformation campaigns. Between January and September 2025, digital monitoring organization Rumor Scanner identified 567 false claims involving 276 women across various sectors including politics, entertainment, and civic activism.

Female political leaders have been disproportionately targeted. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, alongside political figures Tasmim Zara and Samanta Sharmin, faced coordinated campaigns using sophisticated digital manipulation techniques. These included doctored videos, AI-fabricated content, and sexualized narratives specifically designed to undermine their credibility and leadership.

The entertainment industry has not been spared either. Prominent cultural figures including Sadia Ayman, Nusrat Imroz Tisha, and author Meher Afroz Shaon have all been victimized by digital impersonation. A particularly concerning trend involves AI-generated imagery or videos of women from other countries being falsely attributed to Bangladeshi celebrities, causing significant personal and professional harm.

Digital rights experts point to several factors driving this trend: growing accessibility of AI image generation tools, political polarization intensifying during periods of unrest, and weak regulatory frameworks for digital content verification. The situation reflects a global challenge where technological capabilities for creating convincing fake content have outpaced both public awareness and institutional safeguards.

Media literacy specialists emphasize the critical need for multi-stakeholder approaches to combat this growing threat. These include developing stronger fact-checking networks, implementing digital literacy programs in educational institutions, and encouraging technology platforms to develop more sophisticated detection systems for manipulated content.

As Bangladesh navigates political transitions and social challenges, the proliferation of such digitally manipulated content threatens to undermine public trust in institutions, exacerbate existing tensions, and create new vulnerabilities—particularly for women in public life. The trend underscores the urgent need for collaborative solutions that balance freedom of expression with protections against harmful misinformation in an increasingly digitized information landscape.