No internet shutdown announced for election day: Rumor Scanner

Rumor Scanner has fact-checked that Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury did not announce any internet shutdown on election day. The claim, circulated in his name, has no factual basis or supporting evidence.

What the claim said

A video, titled “Internet to be shut down on election day! What a shocking announcement made by the home affairs adviser”, has recently been shared on social media platforms.

What the fact-check found

During the investigation, Rumor Scanner’s investigation team found a video published on February 1 by a YouTube channel named “Aaf Times”. The thumbnail of this video matched screenshots circulating on TikTok. While the thumbnail claimed that the home adviser had announced an internet shutdown on election day, the content of the video itself stated something entirely different. In the detailed video, it was said that the home adviser warned that if internet services were shut down on election day, legal action would be taken.

Fact-checkers found that the widely discussed claim likely originated from this video.

No information has been found in the media or from reliable sources to suggest that the home affairs adviser made such a statement. If the adviser had made such remarks, mainstream media outlets would have widely reported it.