An investigation by the "Rumor Scanner" team found that between August 12 and December 5, 13 false reports were published in Indian media. A total of 49 Indian media outlets were identified for spreading these fake news stories, said the fact-checking website on Friday. Rumor Scanner is an independent digital journalism initiative with a mission to fight misinformation, and the country’s ongoing rumours, explain issues and provide accurate information to the public to make the internet safer. Among flase reports, Republic Bangla led the list, broadcasting five rumors. Hindustan Times, Zee News, and Live Mint followed closely, each spreading three rumours. Besides, Republic, India Today, ABP Anand, and Aaj Tak each broadcast two rumours. The remaining 41 media outlets each broadcasted one rumour. Following the fall of the Awami League government, Indian media outlets began circulating a series of rumours about the situation in Bangladesh, said the Rumor Scanner. Among these rumours were: a fake open letter attributed to Sheikh Hasina after her resignation, a video of a human chain by a Muslim man searching for his missing son being falsely claimed to involve a Hindu person, a false report claiming Dr Muhammad Yunus was admitted to the ICU, baseless claims about lifting the ban on banned militant organisations in Bangladesh, a fabricated story claiming Dr Yunus fled to France after Trump’s victory, false allegations about arms being smuggled into Bangladesh via a Pakistani ship, misrepresentation of the slain lawyer Saiful Islam as Chinmoy Krishna’s lawyer, rumors about Indian channels being banned in Bangladesh, the spreading of a video of idol immersion in India falsely claiming it was in response to Hindu idols being destroyed in Bangladesh due to Muslim attacks, a false claim about an attack on a Shyamoli Paribahan bus, fabricated reports of an assault on Chinmoy Krishna’s lawyer, and misleading news about the UK issuing a travel advisory due to potential terrorist attacks in Bangladesh. After being ousted from power on August 5 and seeking refuge in India, Sheikh Hasina allegedly issued an open letter from Delhi to the public, claiming that the United States was responsible for her removal. Indian propaganda cannot harm us: Adviser Sakhawat This claim was widely circulated in Indian media. However, it was later revealed that Sheikh Hasina had not issued any such letter. An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that the letter first spread on Facebook and was later published with a date in the print edition of the Agartala-based daily Tripura Bhobishyot. Following this, screenshots of the letter were widely shared on social media and later broadcast by several media outlets in both India and Bangladesh. After August 5, a video spread across various Indian media outlets, claiming that a Hindu man was holding a human chain to search for his missing son. But, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team revealed that the man was actually Muslim, and his name was Babul Howlader. His son has been missing since 2013, and the human chain was organised in an effort to find him. After Sheikh Hasina lost power, an interim government was formed on August 8, with Dr Muhammad Yunus appointed as the chief adviser. Indian media outlets claimed that Dr Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government, had fallen ill and was admitted to the ICU. A photo of a patient receiving treatment in a hospital was also published alongside this claim. However, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team revealed that the photo was not of Dr Yunus. In fact, it was neither recent nor from Bangladesh. Dr Yunus is, in fact, in good health. Indian media outlets claimed that after the political change in Bangladesh, bans on several banned militant organisations had been lifted. However, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found no truth to this claim. The false assertion was circulated in Indian media without any reliable information or evidence to support it. On November 5, Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, won the 47th Presidential election in the United States. Following Trump’s victory, a claim spread across Indian media alleging that Dr. Muhammad Yunus had fled to France. However, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that this claim was false. The photo used as evidence of his escape was actually taken on August 8, when Dr. Yunus was returning from France to Bangladesh. On November 13, for the first time since independence, a container-carrying ship docked at the Port of Chittagong directly from Karachi, Pakistan. Indian media outlets claimed that the ship was the same Pakistani military vessel, “Swat”, which had brought arms and ammunition to Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War. Indian media spreading propaganda about Bangladesh: Home Affairs Adviser They further alleged that the ship was carrying weapons from Pakistan to Bangladesh. However, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found no truth to these claims. The ship’s name was MV Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan, a commercial vessel that brought industrial raw materials and consumer goods to Bangladesh. On November 25, the Detective Police arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesperson of the United Sanatan Awakening Alliance, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on charges of disrespecting the national flag. The following day, on November 26, he was presented before a Chittagong court, where his bail was denied. Tensions rose in the court premises, and as authorities attempted to escort Chinmoy to a prison van for transfer to jail, his supporters began protesting. The police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) used batons and sound grenades to disperse the demonstrators. During the clashes, Chittagong District Court lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed. Indian media outlets claimed that Saiful Islam was murdered because he was Chinmoy’s lawyer. However, this claim was incorrect. Chinmoy’s lawyer was Subhashish Sharma, not Saiful Islam. Some Indian media outlets claimed that the broadcasts of Indian satellite channels had been shut down in Bangladesh. However, an investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that the channels were still operational. Both the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh confirmed to the Rumor Scanner that the claim was a false rumor. Indian media also reported that the Bangladesh Air Force, with China’s technical assistance, was planning to build Asia’s second-largest airbase near Chicken Neck. But, the Rumor Scanner team found this claim to be entirely false. The Lalmonirhat airport has been closed for over six decades, and there have been no recent initiatives to resume its operations. Recently, a video claiming that Muslims in Bangladesh attacked a Hindu temple and vandalised idols spread online. This claim was also promoted by some Indian media outlets. However, the Rumor Scanner team found that the video was not from Bangladesh but from the village of Sultanpur in East Burdwan district, India, showing a scene of idol immersion. The video was unrelated to any attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh. Following reports in some Indian media outlets claiming a collision between a Shyamoli Paribahan bus and a Bangladeshi truck on the Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka route in Brahmanbaria, it was further claimed that local people had threatened the lives of Indian passengers aboard the bus and chanted anti-India slogans. And, the Rumor Scanner team found no truth to these claims. The accident occurred due to overtaking, not intentionally, and there was no evidence of any threats or anti-India slogans. Various rumours were spread around the arrest of Chinmoy Das, including the use of a hospital image of a person who was claimed to be Ramen Roy, Chinmoy Krishna Das’s lawyer. The rumours further claimed that Muslims had attacked his home and hospitalised him in the ICU. And the Rumor Scanner team found that Ramen Roy was not Chinmoy Das’s lawyer, nor was he involved in the case. In fact, Ramen Roy was injured during an attack by miscreants at a program organised by Sanatan Hindus in Shahbagh on November 25. There were no reports or evidence of his house being vandalised. Some Indian news outlets claimed that the UK had issued a travel advisory warning of potential terrorist attacks in Bangladesh. However, this claim was misleading. The travel advisory was not specific to Bangladesh but was part of a broader alert that also included countries such as India, Indonesia, Germany, Spain, Sri Lanka, France, and others. Fight Indian media's misformation campaign with truth: CA's Press Secretary Typically, UK travel advisories apply to all travelers and are not region-specific. While a specific warning was issued for the Chittagong Hill Tracts due to ongoing violence, no such advisory was issued for other areas of Bangladesh. Besides, the UK’s advisory indicated that the risk of terrorist attacks was considered higher in countries like India, France, Germany, Russia, the USA, and Pakistan compared to Bangladesh.

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on Tuesday hoped that the citizen groups, Bangladeshi diaspora, political parties and civil society would raise their voices against the massive misinformation campaign against Bangladesh. "There has been a kind of massive disinformation campaign against us,” he said, adding that it is an evil effort to put the whole nation into question. The Press Secretary said what is happening around is the result of a misinformation campaign as an impression is deliberately being given that something dangerous is taking place in the country. Putting blame largely on Indian media for spreading propaganda, he said it seems the Indian media is pre-determined to say what is happening in Bangladesh. “If you have a pre-determined stance, to be honest, we can’t say much.” Alam said they are inviting journalists globally to see and write based on facts to let the world know the actual situation on the ground. Read: INR survey: Bangladesh faces media credibility crisis amid disinformation surge and digital literacy gaps Meanwhile, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus is going to hold talks separately with different stakeholders, including political parties and religious leaders, as he seeks national unity. The Press Secretary said there is a possibility of a meeting with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy at 4pm on Wednesday. The meeting with religious leaders will be held on Thursday, but the time has not been decided yet, he said. The Press Secretary said the Chief adviser will call for national unity at the meetings. Prof Yunus held a meeting with student leaders on Tuesday evening. “He (Prof Yunus) called the students to help rebuild the nation,” Alam told UNB after the meeting. Read more: National Unity: Chief Adviser to hold talks with political, religious leaders CA’s Deputy Press Secretaries Apurba Jahangir and Abul Kalam Azad Majumder were also present at the media briefing.

Law Minister Anisul Huq assured the Parliament on Sunday (February 25, 2024) that the government is dedicated to safeguarding press freedom and will not impose any restrictions on it. He highlighted upcoming legislation aimed at combating misinformation and fake news without infringing on media freedom. Addressing the Parliament in the absence of the State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mohammad Ali Arafat, Huq responded to concerns raised by Jatiya Party MP from Patuakhali, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawladar, regarding the spread of false news by online media outlets. Home Minister expresses hope for swift conclusion of BDR Carnage Case Hawladar questioned the necessity of a law to prohibit such practices, to which Minister Huq reaffirmed the constitutional guarantee of free speech and press freedom. “Law has to be made in that light and with due respect,” he said. He referenced the existing Cyber Security Act, indicating that it, along with forthcoming laws proposed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, aims to address the issue of misinformation responsibly. The government's approach is to prevent confusion and the spread of fake news through appropriate measures, not control, the Law Minister emphasized, ensuring that the press's freedom remains intact. Read more: Information Minister questions countries’ lack of concern when BBC office in India was searched

Those who spread confusion and misinformation do not like that Bangladesh is prospering, according to Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud. He made the remark during an exchange of views with journalists on current issues at his residence in Chattogram city on Friday (March 31, 2023) afternoon. Hasan, also Joint General Secretary of Awami League, said that as the country continues to progress, the prosperity and wealth of every citizen also increases. He alleged some newspapers intentionally publish negative news: “Many individuals do not like the economic prosperity of Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. Therefore, some newspapers intentionally publish negative reports, while identified foreign individuals spread misinformation against Bangladesh." Read More: BBC film on India's PM Modi, 2002 riots draws government ire Despite these efforts, Bangladesh remains indomitable, he said. The information minister also criticized 12 countries, including the USA, that issued a statement on the arrest of Prothom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman Shams, stating that it was tantamount to “interference in the country's internal affairs.” He highlighted the contrast between the response to this incident in Bangladesh and the “lack of concern” expressed by countries when the BBC office in India was searched. He reminded diplomats of the Vienna Convention that sets the rules and limits on their conduct while stationed abroad and asserted that the government would continue to ensure freedom of media. Read More: Indian officials search BBC offices for second straight day Mahmud also criticized the opposition party for going to foreign diplomats and requesting “intervention” instead of engaging with the people of the country. He stated that it was "anti-national and involved a conspiracy against the country" to meddle in internal affairs. Hasan Mahmud referred to a recent report by Bloomberg, a renowned US media organization, that praised the economic prosperity achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ability to maintain economic stability even during the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession. According to the report, there is a possibility of Sheikh Hasina winning the next election and serving a fourth term as prime minister. Mahmud also shared statistics demonstrating Bangladesh's economic growth and stability under the current government. Read More: Indian officials probe BBC for 3rd day, alleging tax dodge He stated that the percentage of people living below the poverty line stands at 16% despite the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession. Additionally, Bangladesh's per capita income has surpassed that of India during the pandemic, and the country has risen from the 60th to the 35th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, he added. The Acting President of Chattogram Metropolitan Awami League, Mahatab Uddin Chowdhury, former Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, North District President MA Salam, South District Acting President Motaherul Islam, and other party leaders were present at the event. read More: Tax officials search BBC's Delhi offices weeks after Modi documentary

The United Nations’ educational, scientific and cultural agency chief on Wednesday called for a global dialogue to find ways to regulate social media companies and limit their role in the spreading of misinformation around the world. Audrey Azoulay, the director general of UNESCO, addressed a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and civil societies from around the world to discuss ways to regulate social media platforms such as Twitter and others to help make the internet a safer, fact-based space. The two-day conference in Paris aims to formulate guidelines that would help regulators, governments and businesses manage content that undermines democracy and human rights, while supporting freedom of expression and promoting access to accurate and reliable information. The global dialogue should provide the legal tools and principles of accountability and responsibility for social media companies to contribute to the “public good,” Azoulay said in an interview with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the conference. She added: “It would limit the risks that we see today, that we live today, disinformation (and) conspiracy theories spreading faster than the truth.” The European Union last year passed landmark legislation that will compel big tech companies like Google and Facebook parent Meta to police their platforms more strictly to protect European users from hate speech, disinformation and harmful content. The Digital Services Act is one of the EU’s three significant laws targeting the tech industry. In the United States, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have filed major antitrust actions against Google and Facebook, although Congress remains politically divided on efforts to address online disinformation, competition, privacy and more. Filipino journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa told participants in the Paris conference that putting laws into place that would prevent social media companies from “proliferating misinformation on their platforms” is long overdue. Ressa is a longtime critic of social media platforms that she said have put “democracy at risk” and distracted societies from solving problems such climate change and the rise of authoritarianism around the world. By “insidiously manipulating people at the scale that’s happening now, ... (they have) changed our values and it has rippled to cascading failure,” Ressa told the AP in an interview on Wednesday. “If you don’t have a set of shared facts, how do we deal with climate change?” Ressa said. “If everything is debatable, if trust is destroyed (there’s no) meaningful exchange.” She added: “Just a reminder, democracy is not just about talking. It’s about listening. It’s about finding compromises that are impossible in the world of technology today.”

The government has decided to deal with "anti-government propaganda" at home and abroad in a "coordinated way" and fight against misinformation by presenting correct information. Representatives from the relevant ministries and departments will sit regularly to find effective ways to present correct information about Bangladesh against fabrication and misinformation. The decision was taken at a meeting held at State guesthouse Padma on Sunday with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen in the chair. Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and representatives from law enforcement agencies were present. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate the work. Asked about the meeting, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said it was a closed-door meeting and there is nothing to share with the media. Read more: Misinformation, fake news a grave concern, says Md Shahriar Alam

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said the government is committed to ensure people’s right to know and respect freedom of speech. However, the State Minister said that the increasing trend of misinformation and fake news has become a grave concern day by day. “We all have to work in a responsible way. If we all work together, we shall be able to fight the mounting trend of misinformation and fake news,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion at Jatiya Press Club. The Women Journalists Network Bangladesh (WJNB), in partnership with the High Commission of Canada in Bangladesh, organised the discussion on the “Importance of Digital Literacy to combat Hate Speech and Misinformation” under the project “Digital Literacy and Digital Safety”. Read more: BNP ployed to press for right to peaceful assembly through violent means: Foreign Ministry tells diplomatic missions

A top European Union official warned Elon Musk on Wednesday that Twitter needs to beef up measures to protect users from hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content to avoid violating new rules that threaten tech giants with big fines or even a ban in the 27-nation bloc. Thierry Breton, the EU's commissioner for digital policy, told the billionaire Tesla CEO that the social media platform will have to significantly increase efforts to comply with the new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, set to take effect next year. The two held a video call to discuss Twitter's preparedness for the law, which will require tech companies to better police their platforms for material that, for instance, promotes terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams. It’s part of a new digital rulebook that has made Europe the global leader in the push to rein in the power of social media companies, potentially setting up a clash with Musk’s vision for a more unfettered Twitter. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said Wednesday that an investigation into Musk's $44 billion purchase was not off the table. Breton said he was pleased to hear that Musk considers the EU rules “a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis.” “But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead,” Musk said, according to a readout of the call released by Breton’s office. “Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.” After Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter a month ago, groups that monitor the platform for racist, antisemitic and other toxic speech, such the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, say it’s been on the rise on the world’s de facto digital public square. Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week. Twitter didn’t respond to an email request for comment. In a separate blog post Wednesday, the company said “human safety” is its top priority and that its trust and safety team “continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules." Musk, however, has laid off half the company’s 7,500-person workforce, along with an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Many others have resigned, including the company’s head of trust and safety. Read more: Musk says granting 'amnesty' to suspended Twitter accounts In the call Wednesday, Musk agreed to let the EU's executive Commission carry out a “stress test" at Twitter’s headquarters early next year to help the platform comply with the new rules ahead of schedule, the readout said. That will also help the company prepare for an “extensive independent audit" as required by the new law, which is aimed at protecting internet users from illegal content and reducing the spread of harmful but legal material. Violations could result in huge fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue or even a ban on operating in the European Union's single market. Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Both have stringent policies against misinformation, hate speech and other misconduct, previously enforced to boot apps like the social media platform Parler from their devices. Apps must also meet certain data security, privacy and performance standards. Musk tweeted without providing evidence this week that Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Apple hasn’t commented but Musk backtracked on his claim Wednesday, saying he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook who “was clear that Apple never considered” removing Twitter. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked back her statements about whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter warrants government review. “I misspoke,” she said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, referring to a CBS interview this month where she said there was “no basis” to review the Twitter purchase. The Treasury secretary oversees the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency committee that investigates the national security risks from foreign investments in American firms. Read more: Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’ “If there are such risks, it would be appropriate for the Treasury to have a look,” Yellen told The New York Times. She declined to confirm whether CFIUS is currently investigating Musk’s Twitter purchase. Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is, through his investment company, Twitter’s biggest shareholder after Musk.

By now it's as predictable as the calls for thoughts and prayers: A mass shooting leaves many dead, and wild conspiracy theories and misinformation about the carnage soon follow. It happened after Sandy Hook, after Parkland, after the Orlando nightclub shooting and after the deadly rampage earlier this month at a Buffalo grocery store. Within hours of Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, another rash began as internet users spread baseless claims about the man named as the gunman and his possible motives. Also read: Onlookers urged police to charge into Texas school Unfounded claims that the gunman was an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, or transgender, quickly emerged on Twitter, Reddit and other social media platforms. They were accompanied by familiar conspiracy theories suggesting the entire shooting was somehow staged. The claims reflect broader problems with racism and intolerance toward transgender people, and are an effort to blame the shooting on minority groups who already endure higher rates of online harassment and hate crimes, according to disinformation expert Jaime Longoria. “It's a tactic that serves two purposes: It avoids real conversations about the issue (of gun violence), and it gives people who don't want to face reality a patsy, it gives them someone to blame,” said Longoria, director of research at the Disinfo Defense League, a non-profit that works to fight racist misinformation. In the hours after the shooting, posts falsely claiming the gunman was living in the country illegally went viral, with some users adding embellishments, including that he was “on the run from Border Patrol.” “He was an illegal alien wanted for murder from El Salvador,” read one tweet liked and retweeted hundreds of times. “This is blood on Biden’s hands and should have never happened.” The man who authorities say carried out the shooting, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, is a U.S. citizen, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday. Other social media users seized on images of innocent internet users to falsely identify them as the gunman and claim he was transgender. On the online message board 4Chan, users liberally shared the photos and discussed a plan to label the gunman as transgender, without any evidence to back it up. One post on Twitter, which has since been deleted, featured a photo of a trans woman holding a green bottle to her mouth, looking into the camera, headphones hanging from one ear. “BREAKING NEWS: THE IDENTITY OF THE SHOOTER HAS BEEN REVEALED,” claimed the user, saying the shooter was a “FEMBOY” with a channel on YouTube. None of that was true. The photo actually depicted a 22-year-old trans woman named Sabrina who lives in New York City. Sabrina, who requested her last name not be published due to privacy concerns, confirmed to The Associated Press that the photo was hers and also said she was not affiliated with the purported YouTube account. Sabrina said she received harassing responses on social media, particularly messages claiming that she was the shooter. She responded to a number of posts spreading the image with the misidentification, asking for the posts to be deleted. “This whole ordeal is just horrifying,” Sabrina told the AP. Another photo that circulated widely showed a transgender woman with a Coca-Cola sweatshirt and a black skirt. A second photo showed the same woman wearing a black NASA shirt with a red skirt. These photos didn’t show the gunman either — they were of a Reddit user named Sam, who confirmed her identity to the AP on Wednesday. The AP is not using Sam’s last name to protect her privacy. “It’s not me, I don’t even live in Texas,” Sam wrote in a Reddit post. Authorities have released no information on the gunman's sexuality or gender identification. Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar fit both unfounded claims about Ramos in a single now-deleted tweet that also misspelled his name. “It’s a transsexual leftist illegal alien named Salvatore Ramos,” Gosar tweeted Tuesday night. Gosar’s office did not return a message seeking comment. In some cases, misinformation about mass shootings or other events are spread by well-intentioned social media users trying to be helpful. In other cases, it can be the work of grifters looking to start fake fundraisers or draw attention to their website or organization. Then there are the trolls who seemingly do it for fun. Fringe online communities, including on 4chan, often use mass shootings and other tragedies as opportunities to sow chaos, troll the public and push harmful narratives, according to Ben Decker, founder and CEO of the digital investigations consultancy Memetica. Also read:School massacre continues Texas’ grim run of mass shootings “It is very intentional and deliberate for them in celebrating these types of incidents to also influence what the mainstream conversations actually are,” Decker said. “There’s a nihilistic desire to prove oneself in these types of communities by successfully trolling the public. So if you are able to spearhead a campaign that leads to an outcome like this, you’re gaining increased sort of in-group credibility.” For the communities bearing the brunt of such vicious online attacks, though, the false blame stirs fears of further discrimination and violence. Something as seemingly innocuous as a transphobic comment on social media can spark an act of violence against a transgender person, said Jaden Janak, a PhD candidate at the University of Texas and a junior fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies. “These children and adults who were murdered yesterday were just living their lives," Janak said Wednesday. “They didn’t know that yesterday was going to be their last day. And similarly, as trans people, that’s a fear that we have all the time.”

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Wednesday said that the US State Department on the alleged abuse of power by Bangladesh security forces contains misinformation. “Firstly, this allegation is probably from 2021, not 2022. The number of disappearances and murders in 2021 that were mentioned in the report is not same as per our record,” he told reporters at the Secretariat. “We always have an executive magistrate inquiring if anyone is killed by our security forces in a gunfight, even if the security forces open fire in self-defense,” he said. The matter is closed only if the fact behind the incident is proved. And if the executive magistrate thinks that the incident occurred due to injustice or carelessness, it is sent to the judiciary, said the minister. READ: Home Minister warns against violence during Left Alliance's hartal Asked if the security forces are being used for political purposes, he said, “It was when the BNP was in power. If they talk about it, I don't know.” Ever since the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power, if any kind of torture by the security forces is reported, they will face the law, he said. “That is what I have repeatedly said.” The minister also said, “We have seen many of those disappearances and murders, many of them may have gone into hiding. Maybe he has faced losses in his business and went somewhere by himself.” “As you may have noticed a few days ago, a man said after two and a half years that he went missing on purpose due to family unrest.” The security forces have found many, he added. “I can still say loudly that the report that has come out contains discrepancies in the information.” Responding to a question on spreading of rumours, the minister said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is keeping in touch with Facebook in this regard. “We also discussed this with them yesterday. They said that a Facebook team from Singapore came to visit us here.” “We take action against those who spread rumours through Facebook.” ”If anyone gets upset and wants justice against those who spread rumours, we must take action against them,” Kamal added. He also said that people are now realising that these rumours are being spread deliberately. Because of this, they don’t believe any data shared through Facebook. Lastly, regarding the security of Pohela Boishakh, he said they have recommended that the law enforcement end programmes on a limited scale by 2 pm considering the Covid situation.