Bangladesh will maintain a  real-time engagement with Meta to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation on Facebook during the upcoming 13th national election scheduled for February 12, said Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi on Tuesday.

Lutfey Siddiqi made the remarks at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy, where he briefed the media on Bangladesh’s participation and outcomes at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last week.

He said Meta itself is keen to establish real-time communication with Bangladesh during the election period. “We have a meeting with Meta’s legal team on Wednesday morning. They want real-time engagement with us during the election.”

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He also said Meta is already in contact with the Election Commission (EC). “Meta has its own tools to counter misinformation during elections, and they are discussing those with the EC. In serious situations, Meta will assist Bangladesh in stopping misinformation or shutting down provocative pages.”

Addressing concerns over Bangladesh’s data protection ordinance, Lutfey Siddiqi said initial tensions with Meta have now been resolved. “They misunderstood a few issues, which we clarified. Compared to any other time, our relationship with Meta is now quite strong.”

Lutfey Siddiqi  also mentioned discussions with PayPal on the sidelines of the WEF meeting, saying the global digital payments platform has shown interest in entering the Bangladeshi market.

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“PayPal has held talks with the Bangladesh Bank governor and CEO of several private banks and has taken a positive view of Bangladesh. They will discuss the matter at their governing board,” Lutfey Siddiqi said, adding that PayPal expressed satisfaction after engaging with local entrepreneurs, business leaders and banking analysts.