Voting for the 13th national parliament election and referendum will take place on Thursday.
In the meantime, social media platforms have circulated claims that the government has announced a nationwide one-week lockdown for the election. Fact-checking shows that these claims have no factual basis.
The false lockdown claims have spread most widely on TikTok.
Several posts reuse footage from television news reports and falsely present them as recent announcements, with captions such as “Special government announcement for the election” and “Special restrictions announced for the election.”
One TikTok account claims, “A nationwide lockdown will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6:00 am and last for one week.”
Another claims, “Lockdown for one week starting tomorrow,” with a caption stating, “The Government’s special announcement of lockdown during the election.”
Verification shows that these videos originally aired in 2021, when the government imposed a one-week lockdown during the covid pandemic.
Editors have manipulated and reposted the footage to falsely suggest a new lockdown. No credible news outlet has reported any government announcement of a lockdown in connection with the current national election.
The government has only declared Wednesday and Thursday as public holidays for the election, and this decision has no connection to any lockdown.
False claims about motorcycle ban
Another piece of misinformation concerns restrictions on motorcycle movement.
A 15-second video circulating on Facebook claims that “motorcycle movement will remain banned from 10 February to 30 February” due to the election. This claim is also false.
In the video, a man dressed in clothing resembling that of a member of the armed forces states, “From the 10th until the 30th, all types of motorcycle movement will remain prohibited for the election. Please move carefully. We are on the ground to ensure security. Follow instructions and stay safe.” The video has received more than 3.4 million (34 lakh) views.
Fact-checking confirms that creators produced the video using artificial intelligence (AI). Moreover, February does not have 30 days, and no media outlet has reported any such long-term restriction.
However, the government has issued an official gazette notification imposing a 72-hour ban on motorcycle movement from 12:00 midnight on 10 February to 12:00 midnight on 13 February, in connection with the election.
False claim about an “order to shoot the army”
A photo card has circulated on Facebook claiming that the chief adviser instructed the army to open fire if disorder occurred at voting centres during the election.
Fact-checking confirms that chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus issued no such instruction to the armed forces.
In reality, a satirical post from a parody page has circulated as genuine news. No media outlet has reported any statement of this nature.
Tracing the source of the Facebook post leads to a page named “Janina TV”, where the original photo card appeared on 6 February.
The post cited no sources. The page’s bio clearly states, “Our posts are for entertainment only. Do not take any post seriously.”
Rumeen Farhana has not withdrawn
A video has circulated claiming that Rumeen Farhana, an independent candidate in the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency, has withdrawn from the election. Verification finds this claim to be false.
An investigation into the viral video reveals that it used footage from a report published by Jugantor, in which Ziaul Haque Mridha, the Jatiya Party (JP) candidate in the same constituency, announced his withdrawal.
Editors cut and manipulated parts of the original report and distorted the context to create the misleading video.
No credible report suggests that Rumeen Farhana has withdrawn from the election. On the contrary, media reports continue to cover her ongoing campaign activities.
Fake photo card attributed to Mufti Abdul Malek
A photo card circulating on Facebook quotes Mufti Abdul Malek, khatib of the national mosque Baitul Mukarram, as saying that “after the Awami League, the BNP is the most Islamophobic party.” The card imitates the design used by The Daily DUCSU page.
Fact-checking confirms that The Daily DUCSU never published such a photo card, and no record exists of Mufti Abdul Malek making any such statement.
Fake photo card attributed to Shafiqur Rahman
Another fake photo card circulating on Facebook attributes a statement to Shafiqur Rahman, ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The card quotes him as saying, “We do not engage in extortion. We collect donations for the Baitul Mal. We run the party by taking over banks. Under our arms sit the Nabil Group and Islami Bank.”
The creators placed the Prothom Alo logo on the card. However, no such photo card appears on Prothom Alo’s Facebook page and no media outlet has reported any such statement.
Verification shows that editors altered an unrelated photo card previously published by Prothom Alo to create this fake version.
Fake video attributed to Nahid Islam
A video has circulated claiming that Nahid Islam, convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), issued a stern warning, stating that on 12 February, voters would force BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman to leave the country, as Sheikh Hasina did.
Investigations find no evidence that Nahid Islam made such a statement. The video actually comes from a press conference addressing an attack on Nasiruddin Patwary.
In that conference, Nahid Islam stated that the attack took place on the instructions of Mirza Abbas, with the consent of Tarique Rahman.
He added that they wanted to see how the administration and the BNP would respond to the incident. He also said, “We will give the rest of our response on the streets and at the election on 12 February.”
Editors later added misleading text overlays to the video to falsely claim that he threatened to force Tarique Rahman to get out of the country.
AI-generated image falsely claimed as Maulana Mamunul Haque’s rally
An image has circulated on Facebook claiming to show a large election rally or procession of Maulana Mamunul Haque, the candidate supported by the 11-party electoral alliance in the Dhaka-13 constituency.
The image has attracted more than 63,000 reactions, 3,200 comments and nearly 10,000 shares.
Verification indicates a 98.6 per cent probability that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) and does not depict a real event.