AFP, Dhaka
Meta announced on Thursday that Facebook had removed numerous accounts and pages linked to Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” including the dissemination of criticism against the opposition ahead of the January elections.
The Awami League and its allies secured nearly all seats in the January 7 parliamentary elections, which were boycotted by the main opposition parties due to concerns over potential rigging. In the lead-up to the election, social media platforms, particularly Facebook, were inundated with disinformation primarily targeting the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
During the first quarter of the year, Facebook took down “50 accounts and 98 pages for violating our policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior,” some of which had millions of followers. Meta noted that some of these pages used the names of existing news organizations in Bangladesh and others posed as opposition supporters while posting content critical of the opposition.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, was sworn in for a fourth consecutive term in January. Her administration has faced allegations of election rigging, widespread human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and severe crackdowns on the opposition.
Meta reported that the removed accounts and pages, primarily in Bengali, shared content about Bangladesh and the elections. This content included criticism of the BNP, allegations of BNP corruption, and its involvement in pre-election violence, while simultaneously offering supportive commentary about the incumbent government.
