Muhammad Yunus has warned that widespread misinformation on social media threatens the credibility of Bangladesh’s February 12 elections.
The polls will elect 300 MPs and include a referendum on the July Charter, a reform package aimed at preventing authoritarian rule.
The UN and EU have flagged disinformation as a major risk to the country’s historic democratic transition.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus warned Tuesday of a dangerous “flood of misinformation” threatening the credibility of the February 12 national elections, the country’s first since the 2024 uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina.
In a telephone call with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the 85-year-old Nobel laureate described a surge of fake news, rumours and speculation spreading rapidly on social media from both local and foreign sources. “They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation,” Yunus said, adding that he had asked the UN for support to counter the disinformation targeting the polls.
The February 12 vote will decide 300 parliamentary seats and include a simultaneous referendum on the July Charter — a package of reforms aimed at strengthening democracy, judicial independence, and checks on executive power to prevent a return to authoritarian rule.
Yunus, who took charge as Chief Adviser after Hasina fled in August 2024, will step down once an elected government is formed. The European Union has called the twin vote “the biggest democratic process of 2026” in a nation of 170 million people.
Observers warn that unchecked disinformation, combined with risks of election violence and illegal firearms, could destabilise the historic transition. The interim government has launched voter education drives, including mobile “Super Caravan” campaigns, to combat the spread of falsehoods.
The UN has pledged assistance, with Türk describing misinformation as a serious global threat to democratic processes.
