Cases being filed against expats who are spreading rumors: Information Minister

Information and Broadcasting Minister and Joint General Secretary of Awami League Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that he is ready to file cases in the respective countries against those who are spreading rumors abroad. At the same time, he urged people to mobilize and give "counter post" against rumors through social media.

The Minister made this call during an exchange of views with journalists after a meeting with the Rumor Prevention Cell and Facts Checking Committee of the Directorate of Information in the Secretariat conference room on Tuesday afternoon.

He said, 'If a political party pays money to gossipers to spread rumors against the country, nothing can be sadder than this. We have identified those who are spreading such rumors, and they have been notified in many places in the respective countries. If necessary, those in our team have been told to file a case there according to the laws of the respective countries, the government has also informed the authorities of those countries.

Chief Information Officer Md. Shahenur Mia exchanged his views in the meeting.  In the presence of Senior Deputy Chief Information Officer Md. Abdul Jalil, Deputy Chief Information Officer Nasreen Jahan Lipi and Information Officer Gazi Sharifa Yachmin presented the activities of the department on preventing rumors and checking facts.

The Broadcasting Minister said, 'We are aware of such rumors being spread from abroad and it has reduced compared to earlier. You have seen, the audio of those who expressed their anger about BNP and Jamaat not paying their paid agents properly for spreading these rumors, has gone viral. In some cases, expatriate Bangladeshis have also filed cases in some places. So if someone thinks that he will sit abroad and spread rumors and he will be out of reach, but that will not happen.

Hasan Mahmud said, "I thank the mainstream media for their vocal role against corona vaccination and rumors during the construction of Padma Bridge. I would like to request the journalists, just as you have worked before in view of the needs of the nation and during the corona virus, now in view of the elections, so that no one can spread rumors, spread false propaganda, you will be vocal against rumors, as before, that is my hope. Also, if a “counter post” is given against the rumor through social media then the rumor will not spread easily. People need to be motivated for this.'

Earlier, the Information Minister appreciated the anti-rumor and fact-checking activities of the Information Department and suggested increasing the quality and quantity of work. It is to be noted that under this program conducted since 2018, 73 fact sheets, 37 iconotexts and 4 videos have been checked and published in Facebook page PID BD' and YouTube channel 'PID Bangladesh'.