Rumor Scanner finds 50 accounts behind surge of communal misinformation centring Bangladesh on X

Fact-checking media organisation Rumor Scanner has identified 50 accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) that have been actively spreading communal narratives by sharing images, videos, and information related to recent events in Bangladesh. 

At least one post from each of these accounts has been found to promote communal misinformation and disinformation. From 5 to 13 August, these posts were viewed over 154 million times, as per the Rumor Scanner’s report. 

Analysis by the Rumor Scanner Investigation Unit revealed that 72% of the accounts spreading fake and misleading information claimed to be based in India. 

Among the account holders are several responsible individuals, and even mainstream media outlets in India have propagated some of this false information.

On 7 July, five people were electrocuted during the Jagannath Dev’s Ratha Yatra in Bogura. A video of this incident was posted on 9 August from an X account in India, falsely claiming it depicted “hundreds of Hindu women being killed in a bomb attack by Jihadis at a camp in Bangladesh.” 

Of the 50 accounts examined in this research, 13 posts contained similar instances where unrelated events were given a communal twist.

The most prevalent form of misinformation involved misrepresenting Muslim individuals as Hindus. For example, a video featuring Bangladeshi actress Azmeri Haque Badhon was circulated with the false claim that she was a Hindu woman delivering an emotional speech in Bangladesh. Badhon herself publicly refuted this claim. 

The Rumor Scanner Investigation Unit identified 17 other similar incidents, making this the most common type of misinformation, accounting for 36% of the total cases.

Other forms of misinformation included repurposing old videos from unrelated incidents, falsely attributing attacks on Muslim establishments to Hindu establishments, misrepresenting arson attacks on different sites as attacks on Hindu properties, distorting political slogans, fabricating statements, creating fake Telegram accounts in the name of the BNP, and making false claims about the number of Hindu casualties.

In 80% of the cases (40 posts), video footage was used to spread misinformation. Fifteen of these videos were from unrelated incidents predating 5 August, while the rest, though related to different events, were repurposed to fit the current communal narrative. 

In 16% of cases, images and screenshots were used, while the remaining 4% consisted of text-only posts.

The Rumor Scanner’s report revealed that of the 50 X accounts disseminating communal misinformation about Bangladesh, 36 listed India as their location. 

Other listed locations included Hungary, the United Kingdom, Finland, the United States, Qatar, Sweden, Somalia, Thailand, and Bangladesh, with each of these locations being cited by one account. Five accounts did not mention any location.

These accounts have been consistently spreading communal narratives by sharing information, images, and videos related to recent events in Bangladesh, Rumor Scanner said in its report. 

A long-term analysis reveals that these accounts have been spreading misinformation for several years, not just about Bangladesh but also about other South Asian countries. 

Recently, a video falsely claiming to show a Hindu man demanding information about his missing son was shared by at least three mainstream Indian media outlets on X: Asian News International (ANI), NDTV, and Mirror Now. However, Rumor Scanner verified that the man in question is Muslim. Babul Howlader has been seeking information about his missing son since 2013 and participated in a protest for this cause. 

Rumor Scanner found that several other Indian media outlets and individuals associated with them were involved in spreading similar communal misinformation. This list includes X accounts from Zee News Madhya Pradesh and News 24.

The Rumor Scanner Investigation Unit has observed the widespread dissemination of communal misinformation on X, often using unrelated footage and exaggerating incidents to create a broader narrative of communal violence. 

The rapid spread of communal propaganda on X in such a short time is unprecedented in recent years, it said.