Fact checking agency Rumour Scanner has found evidence of spreading disinformation on the internet centering the Awami League (AL) programme on Noor Hossain Day on 10 November.
The agency has verified 16 claims regarding this and published information on 15 of those. The report shows disinformation was spread using old photos and videos. Fake information involving the Bangladesh Army has also been circulating on social media.
The Rumour Scanner has published a report on this Tuesday. Of the 15 claims that the agency has checked, two were found to be information based, two were fake press releases and old photos were used in one incident. Besides, old videos have been claimed as recent incidents in nine cases and there is one case where the real footage was claimed as a fake video to confuse people.
This was the first time that the Awami League officially called for a programme on 10 November following the fall of the Sheikh-Hasina-led government on 5 August. The Rumour Scanner noticed disinformation circulating on the internet from the night of 9 November centering the protest rally called by the AL. It continued throughout the next day.
The Rumour Scanner report says there were indications of holding a programme on Shaheed Noor Hossain Day in a leaked phone call record of Awami League president Sheikh Hasina on 8 November. In that call record, a person, who had a voice similar to that of the former prime minister, was heard giving instructions to AL leaders and activists to bring out a procession with photos of US president-elect Donald J Trump on 10 November.
Claims surfaced that after the phone call record went viral, the Awami League directed its leaders and activists with the same instructions. Even a photo of that claimed press release signed by the AL office secretary Biplab Barua went viral on social media. However, the Rumour Scanner found that the AL office secretary hasn’t issued any notice on the official pad of the party. Although the party updated a post on its official Facebook page asking its activists to join the programme on 10 November, there was no instruction regarding carrying photos of Donald Trump in the post.
Meanwhile, on 9 November, the police arrested 10 people with placards containing photos of US president-elect Donald Trump. The police said they were arrested while trying to bring out a procession and to hold a rally illegally. Later, a post went viral on social media which claimed that Donald Trump posted on his X handle regarding the arrested persons. But in reality, the US president-elect hasn’t posted anything on social media regarding Bangladesh since his reelection as the US president.
The Rumour Scanner has found the photo used to spread this fake information was a screenshot of a post created by a fan account of Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, on the night of 9 November, some photos went viral claiming to be photos of setting up the stage for the AL programme on the Shaheed Noor Hossain Day. However, according to the rumour scanner investigations, the photos were actually of the stage that was set up in front of the BNP office in the capital’s Naya Paltan ahead of their programme to commemorate the National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
In the meantime, a video went viral on the internet on 9 November which claimed that the members of the Chhatra League hold processions in different parts of the city. However, the Rumour Scanner found that the video was actually of a protest rally and procession held by the Chhatra League in the capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue in protest of vandalising an under-construction mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Kushtia in 2020.
The Rumour Scanner found another fake press release of Awami League in the early hours of 10 November. The fake release containing a signature of the AL office secretary claimed that the scheduled programme on 10 November has been cancelled. However, the rumour scanner found it to be completely fake.
Fake information such as the army won’t interfere in any political assembly was also circulating on the internet centering the Shaheed Noor Hossain Day. The Facebook card regarding this cited the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) as the source of the information.
However, the ISPR told the Rumour Scanner that there has been no change in the duty of the army. The ISPR also said the claim was a fake. They didn’t make any such announcement.
Besides, a screenshot was spread on Facebook where the people have been asked to use photos of Dr. Muhammad Yunus as their mobile wallpaper. It was claimed that the screenshot was taken from the official verified page of the Awami League. However, there has been no such post from the official page of the Awami League. The Rumour Scanner said the screenshot was edited with the help of digital technology.
There were also incidents where old videos have been used to spread false information surrounding the 10-November programme. A video of Chhatra League‘s procession held in 2022 was claimed to be a video of Awami League showdown in 2024. Besides, a video of the procession brought out by the Hindu community in Gopalganj was spread as a scenario in Dhaka. A video of people in Gopalganj demonstrating demanding the return of the former prime minister was spread as a video of Awami League's programme on 10 November.
Not only the old videos, old photos were also used to spread disinformation surrounding the 10-November programme of the Awami League, the Rumour Scanner said.
The agency said some photos of the programmes held by the Chattogram city Awami League on 1 August in memories of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other slain members of his family were published from the official Facebook account of former Chattogram mayor AZM Nasir Uddin.
A photo from that post was spread as a photo of the BCL leaders and activists taking control at the Zero Point of Dhaka on 10 November.
Disinformation has been spread on YouTube as well. A YouTube channel named Taja News published a video claiming it to be a video of Awami League activists taking control at the rally venue after beating up the coordinators (of Students Against Discrimination). The video was viewed more than 400,000 times. However, there was no such incident.
The BNP and its associate bodies thronged the Awami League office on the Bangabandhu Avenue to prevent them from holding any programme. Somoy Television broadcasted a video of the incident live. Later, that video was used to claim that the AL leaders and activists have taken to the streets and are thronging Noor Hossain Chattar.