EC Detects 86,000 AI-Driven Misinformation Contents Ahead of February 12 Polls

Ahead of the referendum and the 13th National Parliamentary Election scheduled for February 12, the Election Commission (EC) has already identified 86,000 pieces of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated misinformation, officials have said. Of these, 36,000 contents have been classified as violent and hate-spreading in nature.

The EC was able to detect these AI-driven misinformation contents with support from the e-Monitor Plus platform of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to data provided by the UNDP e-Monitor Plus platform from the announcement of the election schedule until February 2, most of the 86,000 identified contents originated from Dhaka, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Khulna, Chattogram, and Barishal regions. Nearly 90 percent of the misinformation was related directly to the national parliamentary election.

Monitoring data show that Meta platforms have been the primary source of the spread of AI-generated misinformation. About 89.88 percent of such contents were disseminated through Facebook, while 10.12 percent originated from X.

Election officials said that misinformation targeting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanauallah has also been detected on these platforms. In addition, misinformation involving top political leaders—including BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman—has been identified. Relevant information has already been shared with law enforcement agencies, according to concerned sources.

It has been learned that the agencies are taking action against such misinformation through their respective monitoring cells. The National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC) is also assisting the EC in countering AI-driven misinformation. With this support, the EC was able to shut down fake Facebook accounts opened in the names of the CEC and Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanauallah within 24 hours.

DBTech/BNN/EK/OR