PM suffered the most online bullying during elections: TAM
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had been the victim of online bullying the most during the 12th National Parliament elections. This information has emerged in the report of the United States National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) which came to Bangladesh to observe the election. The final report of the joint Technical Assessment Mission (TAM) of the two institutions was published on IRI's website on March 16. This report is published in both English and Bengali languages.
IRI and NDI completed a pre-election assessment between October 8 and 11, 2023, ahead of the 12th National Assembly elections. Members of that team included IRI Co-Chair and former Deputy USAID Administrator Bonnie Glick, NDI Co-Chair and former Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs Carl F. Inderfurth, former member of the Malaysian House of Representatives Maria Chin Abdullah, former Assistant Counsel to the President of the United States Jameel Zafar, IRI's Asia-Pacific Senior Director Johanna Kao, and NDI Asia-Pacific Regional Director Manpreet Singh Anand.
Analyzing the online abuse and posts during the election, the report said, there were offensive, rumour-mongering and misleading political attacks on social media targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the majority of which was attributed to the BNP.
Both parties contributed to Bangladesh's sarcastic social media atmosphere during the election.
The NDI-IRI report says marginalized groups, especially women, have also faced electoral violence. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina does not have any Facebook ID or social media networking site. The then Assistant Press Secretary of the Prime Minister MM Imrul Kayes confirmed through a post that 'every ID opened in the name of the Prime Minister is fake'.
TAM used social media monitoring methods CrowdTangle and Newswhip to monitor issues of electoral violence on social media and to find specific sensitive words on Facebook.
In the report, TAM recommends improving the enforcement of existing laws such as the Representation of the People Order and the Cyber Security Act, which provide powers to prevent violence against voters and ensure protection of civil liberties and fundamental freedoms, including in the online world.
As noted in the Summary of Findings and Priority Recommendations, online interlocutors often cite the Digital Security Act of 2018 and its successor, the Cybersecurity Act passed in 2023, as they resort to self-censorship despite promises of government reform. The media self-censored Journalists have faced electoral violence from both the ruling party and the opposition during election campaigns and protests.
