More and more misinformation and disinformation are flooding social media ahead of the election. To create voter awareness, we are running selective fact-check reports published by fact-checking organisations from today.
As the national election approaches, social media platforms have been flooded with misleading content, including fake photocards and old videos circulated with false claims.
Two such pieces of election-related fact-check reports were published by fact-checking organisations Rumor Scanner Bangladesh and Dismislab yesterday.
According to the Rumor Scanner report, one widely circulated video has been shared under the title “President appeals to the nation over the election”, claiming to show President Mohammed Shahabuddin delivering a message about the upcoming national election.
In the video, the president is heard saying, “I have an appeal to the people of the country. The national election is ahead. You must exercise your voting rights yourselves and form a government of your choice.”
At the time the fact-check report was published, the most viral version of the clip on TikTok garnered 26,000 views, 900 reactions and 100 shares.
However, Rumor Scanner’s fact-check found that the video is neither recent nor linked to the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election. The footage dates back to 2023 and shows remarks made by the president in the context of the 12th national parliamentary election.
During verification, fact-checkers found a video titled “Let the upcoming election be fair: Mohammed Shahabuddin” published on February 13, 2023, on the YouTube channel of ATN News. The circulated clip matches this original video.
In the original footage, the president was speaking ahead of the 12th national parliamentary election held on January 7, 2024. The same information was later confirmed through a video report published on the YouTube channel of DBC News on the same day.
Separately, Dismislab identified a fake photocard circulated on Facebook claiming that supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance clashed in Phulbari on January 22, the first day of election campaigning. The photocard carried the logo of Ekattor TV and followed the visual style commonly used by the outlet.
However, Dismislab found that Ekattor TV did not publish any such photocard or report on its official Facebook page or website on that date.
Dismislab also contacted Ekattor TV for clarification. Arif Rahman Shibly, online editor and head of output at Ekattor TV, said, “This is definitely not ours. The card has been photoshopped over our design. We also did not publish any such news anywhere.”
