Jamaat accuses Reuters of misreporting Shafiqur Rahman's 'hacked post'

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has criticised Reuters for misrepresenting a controversial post on the X (formerly Twitter) account of its Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, and underplaying a confirmed "hacking incident".

In a statement today (10 February), the party said Reuters treated the disputed post as Shafiqur's own statement, while reducing the confirmed hacking to a mere "claim by Jamaat," despite credible evidence to the contrary.

"Such framing materially misrepresents the facts and risks, misleading readers on a matter of significant public sensitivity," it added.

The statement highlighted that on 10 January, Reuters published a report containing a "highly sensitive and demonstrably inaccurate assertion" regarding Shafiqur, presenting it as an established fact.

"Subsequent and independent media investigations have since confirmed that Shafiqur's X account was compromised and that a controversial statement relating to women's issues was posted without his authorisation. This was publicly established on 31 January."

Despite this, Reuters treated the post as Shafiqur's own statement and downplayed the hacking incident, the party said.

Jamaat further said, "The report used pejorative and non-neutral language by labelling Dr Rahman as an 'Islamist', while refraining from similar descriptors for leaders of other political parties, introducing bias and undermining neutral reporting principles."

The statement also criticised Reuters for selectively citing unnamed polling sources suggesting another political party's leader was leading the forthcoming national election, while ignoring surveys showing Jamaat, under Shafiqur's leadership, ahead of rivals.

"Given the importance of accurate and impartial reporting during an election period, we urge Reuters to correct their story, exercise greater care, balance, and evidential rigour, and ensure its coverage reflects verified facts rather than selective or incomplete narratives. Objectivity and neutrality are essential, particularly when reporting on matters with profound democratic and social consequences," the statement read.

According to Jamaat, Dr Rahman's X account was hacked at 4:55pm on 31 January. Following the incident, Md Sirazul Islam, member of the party's National Election Steering Committee and coordinator of the Campaign Division, filed a case with Hatirjheel Police Station on 4 February.