Fact-check exposes fabricated narrative targeting activist Nafsin after short circuit

Dhaka: A deep investigation by fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner has unmasked a calculated disinformation campaign surrounding the August 6 fire incident at the residence of Pakistan High Commissioner Imran Haider in Gulshan, Dhaka. Within 90 minutes of the event, malicious actors began targeting North South University student and July Movement activist Nafsin Mehanaz.

Rumor Scanner documented at least 32 social media posts pushing fabricated stories of extra-marital affairs and self-immolation. Contrary to these rumors, both the Fire Service and the Diplomatic Security Division of the DMP confirmed that the fire was strictly caused by an electrical short circuit originating from a burnt television set.  

The investigation categorized the smear campaign into five distinct post formats. Malicious users leveraged Google Gemini AI to digitally manipulate images of Nafsin, creating offensive, sexually explicit lies. The disinformation even crossed borders, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on the Indian content platform 'GEOPulse'. The root of this continuous harassment stems back to a post-2024 mass uprising event hosted by former High Commissioner Syed Ahmed Maroof, which has been repeatedly repurposed by bad actors for targeted character assassination.  

In some of these posts, phrases like "I heard this" or "claim" are used, while others present it as a conclusive statement. Investigations reveal that this misinformation targeting Nafsin has crossed borders and reached India. A video making the same claim on an Indian content platform called GEOPulse (Facebook, YouTube) has been viewed over a hundred thousand times.

While investigating the origin of this issue, Rumor Scanner found what appears to be the first related post on a profile named 'Aronno Abir' just before 9:45 PM on August 6th.

This profile is primarily associated with the Awami League-aligned Facebook platform "Crack Platoon." Subsequently, another profile from the same group, named Ryan Draper, also posted the same content. According to a Rumor Scanner report from last July, the "Crack Platoon Bangladesh" group and its associated sarcasm-oriented, opportunistic pages have repeatedly surfaced in the promotion of misinformation on various political issues in Bangladesh over the past several months. The administrator of this group is the profile named Aronno Abir. Rumor Scanner has identified two other profiles, Rebellious Roar and Leo Cypher, as being associated with the same group. The online verification and media research platform DismisSLab also recently identified this group as responsible for shutting down the Facebook profiles of journalists and activists.

Source: Rumor Scanner Fact-Check Report

Misinformation and propaganda linking Nafsin Mehnaz to Pakistan began after the 2024 mass uprising. In a recent Facebook video, Nafsin stated that such false narratives targeting her started during the first Ramadan following last year's uprising. She is still being targeted with propaganda over photos taken at Syed Ahmed Maruf's event. She also mentioned that false information was spread claiming she visited Cox's Bazar with the Pakistani High Commissioner.

When asked about the recent propaganda campaign against her, Nafsin told Rumor Scanner that she hasn't attended any High Commission events since April of last year, when she went at Syed Ahmed Maruf's invitation. "I don't even know the name of the new High Commissioner, or when they took office," she said.

Nafsin believes a group is behind this propaganda. She stated, "This time, I also want to take strong action against these things."

//DBTech/RS/MIS//