AL Web Team calls Meta’s report “motivated, lacking substance"

Reminding all of Meta's "ineffective management" of hate speech and disinformation both in Bangladesh and around the world, Tonmoy Ahmed, coordinator of the Awami League Web Team, has pointed out "a series of failures on the part of Facebook authorities to comply with guidelines."

Tonmoy emphasised Meta's "failure to contain" the relentless flow of disinformation targeting the Awami League (AL) and its leadership on its social media platforms. In a detailed post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, he highlighted the spread of false information against AL leaders, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members.

"I would request Meta to look into the IRI-NDI survey on Bangladesh polls that show Awami League and Sheikh Hasina have been subjected to a disinformation campaign," Tonmoy wrote.

He added, "It is common knowledge and an established truth that vitriol and smears from BNP-Jamaat did not only harass Awami League leaders, rather they did not even spare civil society members."

Tonmoy also underscored accusations from minority rights leaders, stating that Facebook has failed for decades to stop the spread of incitement and hate speech in Bangladesh. "BNP-Jamaat combine used the platform without hindrance to fuel communal attacks," he said.

In his post, Tonmoy voiced frustration with Facebook's lack of objectivity in Bangladeshi affairs. "For a long time, anti-war crimes campaigners and rights activists have raised their voices, feeling stifled by Facebook for echoing similar demands," he wrote.

He further questioned the credibility of the report. "As I came to know this report was done by some third party, outsourced by Meta, the authorities can enquire why the barrage of disinformation by @BNPBdMediaCell has gone completely missing and why did this third party end up echoing the tone of a political party instead of any objective view," he asked.

He continued, "It is well known that BNP's media cell has been found involved in sponsoring content that is tantamount to inciting attacks on law enforcers and deceiving the public by absolving Tarique Rahman from crimes corroborated by international agencies. Yet Meta turns a blind eye to this in its report."

Tonmoy, who bears over 130 stitches from a past attack and had served as general secretary of BUET Chhatra League, shared his personal experience with threats from Shibir activists. "In the past, several activists of BNP-Jamaat used social media to issue death threats against me, but surprisingly no action against them was ever taken by Facebook," he said.

He posted a collage of media reports on BNP-linked social media accounts "inciting violence and circulating disinformation," with the caption: "What Meta chooses to unsee on Bangladesh."

Tonmoy further referred to "inclusion of his verified X account" in the report.

"How can a verified account operational on X find a place in a report prepared by Facebook and that too claim coordinated inauthentic behaviour unless there is a lapse on part of those who prepared the report?" — he asked.

"How is it possible to use a verified X account to run fake IDs in Facebook?" — he wondered.

Responding to Tonmoy's post on X, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mohammad A. Arafat, expressed his concerns: "Meta should investigate the original identity of the people they had outsourced to write this report, which was not only shamelessly biassed but also an epitome of disinformation by itself."

Earlier this year, anti-war crimes campaigners, journalists, and activists raised concerns regarding Facebook's "failure to curb" hate speech, calls for violence, and communal attacks. Despite Facebook's community standards, designed to tackle such abuses, numerous accounts indicated that these guidelines are routinely ignored in the country.

The issue was highlighted in the lead-up to the national election, with a speech by Tarique Rahman calling for "street-level action to determine the nation's future." This speech, broadly shared via BNP's social media accounts, was flagged by civil society and rights activists as an "explicit call to violence."