By 
24-08-2024
Pauliina Majasaari
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
The widespread and prolonged spreading of misinformation on social media and major news platforms has been undermining the stability and the democratic movement within the new and progressive interim government of Bangladesh, headed by the Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, since August 8th, 2024. Strong accusations have been made on the widespread persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh as well as on alleged Islamist takeover, with the aim to destabilise Bangladesh and discredit the new interim government, which is aiming to work towards a democratic Bangladesh where everyone’s human rights are being respected.
On August 5th, 2024, the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League (AL) were ousted from the government leading to the resignation of the prime minister from the Bangladeshi government. The resignation fueled attacks on AL party members and supporters by angry mobs in Bangladesh. Grave amounts of misinformation have been spread about the attacks, especially coming from Hindu communities within India as well as supporters and members of the AL, who claim that the attacks’ motives are religious in nature, since they disproportionately target the Hindu communities in Bangladesh. However, fact-checkers have continuously flagged these claims as false and provided evidence demonstrating that the attacks are targeting houses and businesses of all communities, and not just the Hindus. This suggests that the attacks have rather been politically motivated and not religious. Additional misinformation has been spread about Islamists setting Hindu temples on fire, however these claims have also been debunked by fact-checkers.
As effective democratic societies function on the basis of evidence-based discourse and informed citizens, it is evident that the generation of misinformation gravely undermines democracy. Moreover, polarisation based on religion which is generated through the spread of misinformation can have grave effects on the stability of the society in Bangladesh. According to the Report of the Secretary-General for Countering Disinformation for the Promotion and Protection of Human rights and Fundamental freedoms, disinformation can increase tensions and divisions in times of crisis and key political moments. Several sources confirm that the motives behind the spread of misinformation are to create a divide between the Muslims and the Hindu communities and gather votes for Hindu-based political parties in India as well as undermine the current interim government, as India has held close ties with the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Additionally, when misinformation is used by those holding power, such as the AL, it can create insecurity within the trust that the civilians have for the public institutions as well as creating polarisation in societies and increasing social division. The spread of misinformation can also affect the ability to take part in public affairs as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which calls for open and honest interaction between public authorities and the members of the society. However, when powerful political parties, such as the AL who hold wide support also within the Hindu communities, spread misinformation on the current affairs of conduct taking place in Bangladesh and incite violence, shifting the blame to the current interim government, this can possibly lead to mistrust in the society towards the government, which is not based on fact but self serving motives such as political and ideological reasons.
Consequently, as the spread of misinformation can be gravely harmful to the society as a whole and undermines the actual concerns of the minority groups, such as Hindus in Bangladesh, India is urged to stop spreading fake news on the persecution of Hindus and creating Islamophobia within India. Furthermore, the AL is requested to deter from spreading information that is not accurate to undermine the interim government’s aims of creating stability to Bangladesh.
Sources and further readings:
Farhana Sultana, ‘Bangladesh’s New Democracy Under Threat From Flood of Misinformation’ The Diplomat (14 August 2024) <https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/bangladeshs-new-democracy-under-threat-from-flood-of-misinformation/> accessed 23 August 2024.
Julhas Alam, ‘Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Arrives in Bangladesh to Take Over as Interim Leader’ The Diplomat (9 August 2024) <https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/nobel-laureate-muhammad-yunus-arrives-in-bangladesh-to-take-over-as-interim-leader/> accessed 23 August 2024.
Secretary-General, ‘Countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms: Report of the Secretary-General’ (2022) UN Doc A/77/287.
Shaikh Azizur Rahman, ‘Misinfirmation about Hindus being targeted in Bangladesh fuels Islamophobia fears’ South China Monitoring Post (23 August 2024) <https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275603/misinformation-about-hindus-being-targeted-bangladesh-fuels-islamophobia-fears> accessed 23 August 2024.
Ullrich Ecker, Jon Roozenbeek and Sander van der Linden et al., ‘Misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy than you might think’ (2024) 630 Nature 29 <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01587-3> accessed 24 August 2024.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted 10 December 1948 UNGA Res 217 A(III) (UDHR).
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