DHAKA — Bangladesh’s interim government, worried that Indian media are attempting to stoke community tensions and undermine its authority through biased news segments and other types of disinformation, has turned to a country accused of running its own disinformation campaigns for help: China.
In late May, China’s ambassador to Bangladesh extended an offer to train Bangladeshi officials in countering disinformation, which the government has accepted.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials in Dhaka convened a preparatory meeting on May 28 and will soon set a date for a seminar and decide on content for a training program.
“We had an initial meeting on this recently and will hold another soon to finalize a date for the seminar,” Md. Kawser Ahammed, an additional secretary at the ministry who presided over the meeting, told Nikkei Asia.
Since the ouster last August of Bangladesh’s then-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who took a pro-India stance, ties between Dhaka and New Delhi have soured, while Bangladesh-China relations have warmed.
Indian media have frequently taken a critical tone on developments in Bangladesh, with Dhaka charging that this has veered into outright disinformation. The issue of Hindu community rights and alleged violations of them are a recurring topic, as are allegations of a rise in Islamic terrorism and tensions between the interim government and the military.
Bangladesh has responded with the interim government-run CA Press Wing Facts page on Facebook, which, since its inception in October last year, has branded dozens of news items published home and abroad as “false,” “fake,” “misleading,” “fake news” and “rumor.”
Bangladeshi Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, has also participated in various TV interviews, including on Indian news channel Republic Bangla, to counter alleged disinformation.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
A study conducted by the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), titled “Nomadic Narratives: The Cross Border Spread of Misinformation in South Asia,” said that the period after Aug. 5, 2024 — the day Hasina resigned and fled to India — saw an overwhelming rise in disinformation targeting not only community relations but also catastrophic events and international tensions.
“The cross-border nature of misinformation is not merely a by-product of digital globalization but is deeply rooted in the shared socio-political and religious history of the region,” the report said.
“Since the publication of our study, we have seen how the online and social media space has become an arena for information warfare during moments of national crisis or regional conflicts in South Asia,” Rahul Roy, a research associate at the ULAB, told Nikkei Asia.
However, Bangladesh’s choice to accept China’s help in counter disinformation has raised eyebrows, given that Beijing operates a vast domestic censorship apparatus that often brands politically sensitive content as disinformation. China has also been accused of running disinformation campaigns internationally.
A U.S.-based Bangladeshi American university professor pointed to allegations that China has been a major source of disinformation about democratic countries and systems.
“A country which does not have freedom of speech should not be consulted, let alone be the trainer on how to deal with misinformation and disinformation campaigns,” said the professor, who declined to be named.
Qadaruddin Shishir, editor of The Dissent, a digital investigative media outlet, expressed shock at the fact Bangladesh is even considering using China’s help in combating disinformation.
“I’m afraid that such cooperation will be detrimental to democracy and freedom of speech, especially during the current transitional period,” he said. Shishir said that, instead, the interim government should employ strategies practiced by liberal democracies around the world.
“China’s heavy-handed tactics in dealing with internal disinformation may end up licensing the already repressive law enforcement systems of Bangladesh to muzzle free speech of the citizens,” said Shishir, a former Bangladesh editor for AFP Factcheck.
He said that after August 2024, Bangladesh has faced a wave of external disinformation campaigns seeking to taint Bangladesh’s image in the West.
“I think China has little to add in countering such campaigns,” he said.
When asked about concerns over China’s assistance, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s Ahammed said he would raise them with senior officials at the next meeting on the matter.
The Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh did not respond to a request for comment.
Ujjwal Acharya, director at the Center for Media Research in Nepal, suggested that Bangladesh should consider empowering people to understand and ignore disinformation by promoting media and information literacy, and raising public awareness about the problem.
“This long-term strategy should be complemented by fact-checking, monitoring of misinformation and strengthening research and collaboration with social media platforms,” he said.
DHAKA — Bangladesh’s interim government, worried that Indian media are attempting to stoke community tensions and undermine its authority through biased news segments and other types of disinformation, has turned to a country accused of running its own disinformation campaigns for help: China.
In late May, China’s ambassador to Bangladesh extended an offer to train Bangladeshi officials in countering disinformation, which the government has accepted.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials in Dhaka convened a preparatory meeting on May 28 and will soon set a date for a seminar and decide on content for a training program.
“We had an initial meeting on this recently and will hold another soon to finalize a date for the seminar,” Md. Kawser Ahammed, an additional secretary at the ministry who presided over the meeting, told Nikkei Asia.
Since the ouster last August of Bangladesh’s then-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who took a pro-India stance, ties between Dhaka and New Delhi have soured, while Bangladesh-China relations have warmed.
Indian media have frequently taken a critical tone on developments in Bangladesh, with Dhaka charging that this has veered into outright disinformation. The issue of Hindu community rights and alleged violations of them are a recurring topic, as are allegations of a rise in Islamic terrorism and tensions between the interim government and the military.
Bangladesh has responded with the interim government-run CA Press Wing Facts page on Facebook, which, since its inception in October last year, has branded dozens of news items published home and abroad as “false,” “fake,” “misleading,” “fake news” and “rumor.”
Bangladeshi Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, has also participated in various TV interviews, including on Indian news channel Republic Bangla, to counter alleged disinformation.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
A study conducted by the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), titled “Nomadic Narratives: The Cross Border Spread of Misinformation in South Asia,” said that the period after Aug. 5, 2024 — the day Hasina resigned and fled to India — saw an overwhelming rise in disinformation targeting not only community relations but also catastrophic events and international tensions.
“The cross-border nature of misinformation is not merely a by-product of digital globalization but is deeply rooted in the shared socio-political and religious history of the region,” the report said.
“Since the publication of our study, we have seen how the online and social media space has become an arena for information warfare during moments of national crisis or regional conflicts in South Asia,” Rahul Roy, a research associate at the ULAB, told Nikkei Asia.
However, Bangladesh’s choice to accept China’s help in counter disinformation has raised eyebrows, given that Beijing operates a vast domestic censorship apparatus that often brands politically sensitive content as disinformation. China has also been accused of running disinformation campaigns internationally.
A U.S.-based Bangladeshi American university professor pointed to allegations that China has been a major source of disinformation about democratic countries and systems.
“A country which does not have freedom of speech should not be consulted, let alone be the trainer on how to deal with misinformation and disinformation campaigns,” said the professor, who declined to be named.
Qadaruddin Shishir, editor of The Dissent, a digital investigative media outlet, expressed shock at the fact Bangladesh is even considering using China’s help in combating disinformation.
“I’m afraid that such cooperation will be detrimental to democracy and freedom of speech, especially during the current transitional period,” he said. Shishir said that, instead, the interim government should employ strategies practiced by liberal democracies around the world.
“China’s heavy-handed tactics in dealing with internal disinformation may end up licensing the already repressive law enforcement systems of Bangladesh to muzzle free speech of the citizens,” said Shishir, a former Bangladesh editor for AFP Factcheck.
He said that after August 2024, Bangladesh has faced a wave of external disinformation campaigns seeking to taint Bangladesh’s image in the West.
“I think China has little to add in countering such campaigns,” he said.
When asked about concerns over China’s assistance, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s Ahammed said he would raise them with senior officials at the next meeting on the matter.
The Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh did not respond to a request for comment.
Ujjwal Acharya, director at the Center for Media Research in Nepal, suggested that Bangladesh should consider empowering people to understand and ignore disinformation by promoting media and information literacy, and raising public awareness about the problem.
“This long-term strategy should be complemented by fact-checking, monitoring of misinformation and strengthening research and collaboration with social media platforms,” he said.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei