ET Desk: State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasser Khan Choudhury today said BanglaFact, the fact-checking and media research team of the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), found the involvement of 19 websites, 800 facebook accounts and over 100 X accounts in spreading ‘confusing and false’ information.
The BanglaFact has so far identified 137 fake facebook accounts, pages and groups operating on social media using the name and photographs of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
The state minister said this on behalf of Information and Broadcasting Minister Andaleeve Rahman while responding to a star-marked query raised by opposition Jamaat-e Islami lawmaker M Rafiqul Islam Khan of Sirajganj-4 during question-answer session at the Jatiya Sangsad here.
Besides, BanglaFact has identified 19 websites that imitate newspapers and television channels to spread propaganda and misinformation. More than 800 facebook accounts and over 100 X accounts spreading misleading and false information have also been identified, according to written script.
The Press Information Department (PID) and the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, are working to combat fake news, rumours and misleading information circulated on social media and online portals.
The fact-checking unit of the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), ‘BanglaFact’ (www.banglafact.com), has so far published 1,172 fact-checks, analytical and investigative reports, and videos or reels. Of these, 552 were published after the current government assumed office.
Besides, the training department of PIB has provided training to a total of 1,691 participants through 44 three-day training programmes since the current government assumed office.
Each training programme included sessions on multimedia journalism, artificial intelligence (AI) and fact-checking.
At least one day of every training programme organised by PIB is dedicated to training participants on how to combat rumours, identify hate speeches or hateful propaganda, conduct fact-checking and use artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism.
Such training programmes will gradually be organized for journalists in every district across the country.
Fact-checks and media analysis items or content prepared by PIB’s BanglaFact, along with videos on digital literacy, are available on the website www.banglafact.com.
Regarding the implementation of the 9th wage board, the state minister said seven years have already elapsed since the announcement of the 9th Newspaper Wage Board Award.
However, the 9th Newspaper Wage Board Award has not been implemented due to differences of opinion between journalists and newspaper owners over the payment of income tax, as well as several pending court cases.
However, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and some government organisations have implemented the 9th Newspaper Wage Board Award since its publication in an extra issue of the Bangladesh Gazette on September 12, 2019.
A draft of the Press Council (Amendment) Act, 2026 has already been prepared, incorporating specific provisions to prevent physical assaults, lawsuits and harassment against media workers operating in rural areas and to ensure their professional safety
