Qadaruddin Shishir

We ought to be wary of disinformation campaigns

Bangladesh now has a new government, determined through an election held on January 7 that was described as “controversial" in well-known international press

Intimidating journalists is something of a daily task for those in the power circles in Bangladesh.

Fact-checkers in Bangladesh debunked at least 10 different fake or misleading news stories, eight of which are related to the football tournament, in top newspapers and TV channels.

In early 2017, when I was mulling over launching BD FactCheck – the first fact-checking initiative in Bangladesh – we looked for who else in the region was already working in this field.

Having been working for some years to understand the trends and traits of misinformation in the Bangladeshi online sphere, I often encounter

Oftentimes, we hear politicians, academics and journalists laying great emphasis on how the mainstream media can play its part to fight the menace of fake news and misinformation.

For quite some time now, the term “fake news” has been the buzzword and everyone seems to be anxious about it. We often see high government officials speaking emphatically about how bad “gujob” (rumour) or fake news is for the society and how it should be eliminated for the sake of people and the country.