Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
08-09-2023
DHAKA: Hundreds of articles praising Bangladeshi government policies apparently by independent experts have appeared in national and international media but the authors have questionable credentials, fake photos, and may not even exist, an investigation by the AFP news agency has found.
Commentators say it is evidence of a sustained campaign of disinformation by unknown actors ahead of elections due by the end of January but appears to be intended to benefit the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Such articles have been published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, leading media across Asia, and quoted by the South Asia Brief of the Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine.
Rights groups and foreign powers, including the United States, have long raised concerns over efforts by Hasina’s government to silence criticism and stamp out political dissent.
AFP found that names forming a network of so-called experts are producing regular op-ed pieces, some posing as academics from leading global universities, some using stolen headshot photos, and others making up quotes from real analysts.
“It’s a coordinated influence operation,” said A al-Mamun, a journalism professor at Bangladesh’s University of Rajshahi. “These articles primarily promote narratives that are favourable to the current Bangladesh government.”
A surge of articles appeared online around September 2022, when Bangladesh’s foreign ministry issued a call for “good columnists” to counter negative “propaganda”.
AFP sent multiple requests for comment to top officials at Bangladesh’s foreign ministry and information ministry but received no reply. Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen told AFP he did “not have enough time” to comment.
AFP said it analysed more than 700 articles published in at least 60 domestic and international news sites with bylines attributed to 35 names, all of which appeared for the first time online last year.
The articles overwhelmingly endorse narratives pushed by Dhaka, with some posted on Bangladesh government websites. (AFP)
