Surge of AI-Generated Fake Videos and Photocards Targets BNP Leaders Online
A video captioned “Tarek Rahman’s daughter Jaima Rahman goes live after system hang” has been shared from nearly 15,000 Facebook pages, amassing over two million views within hours on 10 December, Wednesday. In the video, the woman—appearing as Jaima Rahman—claims, “Tarek Rahman will return to the country very soon.”
However, fact-checking later confirmed that the video was not authentic and had been created using artificial intelligence. Shortly afterward, two more pieces of misinformation involving BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir began circulating online.
One fabricated post claimed that the BNP would not participate in the national election if the Awami League refrained from joining. The fake content was reshared over 500 times. Later in the day, another rumour alleged that BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu had expressed frustration over his own party.
In the doctored “Jaima Rahman live” video, she is heard urging people not to worry and alleging conspiracies against her father. A closer analysis revealed that the footage was artificially generated with AI technologies, and not a real livestream.
Meanwhile, a fake photocard mimicking the design of Daily Samakal drew around 65,000 views on TikTok. It falsely attributed a quote to Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, claiming he said politicians had lost unity due to fear of Sheikh Hasina. The newspaper confirmed that no such photocard or report had been published. The design was digitally copied to spread the misinformation.
Another fabricated photocard—this time copying the layout of Daily Bangladesh Pratidin—claimed Fakhrul said the BNP would not contest the election if the Awami League abstained. Investigations later confirmed the claim to be entirely false; the BNP leader made no such remark, nor did the newspaper publish such content.
Misinformation also targeted BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, with a photoshopped photocard falsely quoting him as saying he had been “used and discarded like tissue paper” by the party. Fact-checkers verified that he never made such comments and that the claim circulated with no evidence.
In another case, online outlet RisingBD’s visuals were manipulated to spread rumours claiming that the entrance to the DUCSU building floor displayed the flags of Pakistan, England, the United States, Israel, and India. The Rumour Scanner Team found that the viral image was AI-altered and contained the logo of Google’s AI ‘Gemini’. In reality, only Pakistan’s flag had been placed there.
A further incident involved a widely shared photocard from the Comilla News Facebook page. The original said “Chhatra Dal vandalizes pictures of Khaleda Zia and Tarek Rahman,” but the edited version replaced “Chhatra Dal” with “Shibir” to falsely implicate Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Using fake accounts, coordinated groups are manufacturing and disseminating doctored photocards with offensive, sensitive, and inflammatory content—primarily targeting BNP and Jamaat-Shibir. Personal attacks are also being amplified. In this troubling situation, experts urge the public to rely on credible mainstream news outlets rather than social media posts.
DBTech/RH/EK/OR
