Fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner has identified 268 cases of misinformation that spread online in February 2025. According to their investigation, 47% of these false claims were politically motivated, accounting for 127 instances. In addition, 73 cases pertained to national affairs, 10 to international issues, 18 to religion, 8 to entertainment and literature, 5 to education, 16 to scams, and 7 to sports-related misinformation.
Rumor Scanner reported that most of these falsehoods were factually inaccurate, amounting to 108 instances. Additionally, 64 cases involved misleading images, while 96 were based on deceptive videos. The organization categorized 164 instances as outright false, 64 as misleading, and 40 as distorted.
Social media platforms remained the primary conduit for misinformation, with Facebook leading at 250 false claims. Other platforms contributing to the spread of misinformation included X (formerly Twitter) with 44 cases, TikTok with 16, YouTube with 38, Instagram with 21, and Threads with at least 3 cases. Even mainstream media outlets were not exempt, as 10 instances of misinformation were reportedly published by various news organizations.
Surge in India-Originated Falsehoods
Rumor Scanner’s Senior Fact-Checker Tanvir Mahtab Abir stated, "Since last year, there has been an increase in misinformation about Bangladesh originating from Indian media and social media accounts based in India. This trend continued in February." The organization found that nine instances of misinformation about Bangladesh were propagated by Indian media outlets, while three cases emerged from Indian-run social media pages and accounts.
Religious misinformation also remained a concern, with 20 communal falsehoods identified in February. Half of these originated from Indian social media accounts and pages.
Political Misinformation: Targeting the Interim Government
According to Rumor Scanner's analysis, 16 misinformation cases targeted Bangladesh’s interim government in February. The fact-checking team classified these falsehoods into two categories: positive misinformation that benefits the government and negative misinformation that harms it. Their findings revealed that 87.5% of the identified political misinformation was detrimental to the government.
Additionally, 16 false claims were linked to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, while four cases targeted Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, two targeted Nahid Islam, and three focused on Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan. Other government figures, including A F M Khalid Hossain, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and Dr. Asif Nazrul, were each mentioned in one misinformation case, while Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was linked to three false claims.
Political Parties and Leaders Also Targeted
Among political parties, the Awami League and its former student wing, the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League, were subjects of misinformation that largely cast them in a positive light. Conversely, misinformation regarding the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), its Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was widely circulated.
The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was linked to 13 misinformation cases, with its Ameer, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, being the subject of three such cases. The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, was falsely mentioned in 16 cases.
Rumor Scanner also detected misinformation about the anti-discrimination student movement that led the July uprising, the newly formed National Citizens’ Party led by Nahid Islam, and the Bangladesh Democratic Student Union.
Misinformation Extends to State Institutions and Public Figures
State institutions were not immune to misinformation. Rumor Scanner found false claims targeting Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman, the Bangladesh Air Force, and the Bangladesh Police.
In February, the organization also debunked 14 false reports of deaths, where misleading claims about various public figures were circulated. Additionally, Rumor Scanner found instances of misinformation falsely attributing crimes such as robbery to unrelated incidents using old or foreign footage.
Furthermore, 47 cases of misinformation involved the use of fake or manipulated media cards, logos, and headlines to impersonate reputable news sources. These cases implicated 32 domestic and international news organizations across 51 false claims.
Beyond categorizing misinformation, Rumor Scanner also published a fact-based investigative story last month, further shedding light on the spread of falsehoods in Bangladesh.
