Since the aftermath of the national parliamentary election and referendum in Bangladesh on February 12, reports have emerged of incidents of violence in various parts of the country. While such clashes are not uncommon, this time, the situation has been aggravated by the dissemination of misinformation online.
Accurate information on the incidents has been shared, but false claims have also been circulating, utilizing misleading narratives to implicate rival political factions. According to a study by Dismislab, a fact-checking organization, there have been numerous instances of false claims suggesting that activists and supporters of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami were targeted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Additionally, misinformation has been propagated suggesting that Jamaat was responsible for the attacks or involved in the confrontations.
A review of nine fact-checking organizations focusing on Bangladesh reveals that within the first two days following the election – on February 13 and 14 – at least 13 fact-checks were published to address false allegations concerning post-election violence and protests. Instances where multiple organizations fact-checked the same misinformation were only counted once.
Misinformation Targeting Jamaat Supporters:
Numerous false narratives circulated online alleging violence against Jamaat supporters. For instance, a misleading Facebook video claimed that homes were set ablaze due to residents voting for Daripalla (Jamaat’s symbol) in Debidwar, Cumilla. However, investigations found that the video was old and had been circulating on Facebook for over a month before the election.
Another video with conflicting claims surfaced, suggesting that BNP activists attacked homes of minority communities in Cumilla after the election, or that houses were vandalized merely because individuals had voted for Jamaat. This misinformation was also debunked after fact-checking.
A third misleading claim involved a seven-year-old video alleging that BNP’s student wing, Chhatra Dal, forcibly expelled members of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and Jamaat’s student organization, Islami Chhatra Shibir, from residential halls at Dhaka University. Additionally, several unrelated videos were shared on social media falsely alleging that they depicted Shibir protest marches in response to post-election assaults.
Misinformation Implicating BNP:
Various misleading and fabricated claims have also surfaced online implicating the BNP. One such claim was spread through a Facebook video, falsely presented as footage of post-election assaults. The video caption accused the ruling party of attacking people who voted for the opposition. However, fact-checking revealed that the video actually showed a clash between BNP and Jamaat supporters during the election campaign, not a post-election attack.
Another video was shared with a false claim that BNP activists had gang-raped a female leader of NCP. Moreover, false information targeting Jamaat in the context of election-related violence has circulated. A video shared on X, a social media platform, alleged that Islamist groups were targeting Hindu communities following Jamaat’s defeat in the election.
Fact-checking revealed that the video was unrelated to the 2026 election and instead depicted an incident where a man was assaulted for chanting “Joy Bangla” during the funeral of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.