On November 1, 2023, SACMID began monitoring fake news that was published on different websites after developing a monitoring tool for fact-checking websites.
From November 1 to November 30, SACMID tracked 292 instances of fake news in Bangladesh from 5 fact-checking websites: Rumor Scanner, Boom Bangladesh, Fact Watch, Dismislab, and AFP BD.
The most active website among these was Rumor Scanner, which found 208 instances of rumor and mis/disinformation and identified the facts. There were 59 fake news stories concerning elections and 69 fake news stories about politics.
Apart from these subjects, the majority of other fake news is about sports (34) and international news (22). Boom Bangladesh covered 40 and Fact Watch 39 fact-checks.
Among the 292 fake news stories, SACMID selected a single, notable fact check from Rumour Scanner, which was released on November 6.
The news is: পুলিশ ও প্রধানমন্ত্রীর ওপর আমেরিকার নিষেধাজ্ঞা এবং সেনাবাহিনীর অধীনে নির্বাচন আয়োজনের ভুয়া তথ্য প্রচার।
