Truth on trial in the age of disinformation

During Donald Trump's first term as president, his then-senior adviser Kellyanne Conway famously introduced the term "alternative facts" to justify a false claim about the crowd size at Trump's inauguration. The phrase was condemned by the US media which saw it as a dangerous attempt to legitimise falsehood as truth. The kind of deliberate untruth that once sparked outrage has since become alarmingly commonplace. Today, falsehoods in their myriad forms ---as rumour, disinformation or outright fabrication--- are dominating the public sphere. Unlike in the past, when false claims spread slowly through words of mouth, today's digital platforms enable the instantaneous and viral dissemination of disinformation. The dual forces of information technology revolution and social media's fast expansion have fundamentally transformed the nature and scale of this phenomenon. Social media now amplify falsehoods on an unprecedented scale, blurring the lines between reality and fabrication. As the old adage goes, a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes, but in today's world, it circles the globe several times over before the truth even begins the race. 

The explosion of disinformation becomes particularly evident in volatile geopolitical contexts. For instance, in Bangladesh following the July-August revolution social media platforms were inundated with coordinated campaigns of rumour and disinformation. Rumour Scanner Bangladesh documented 800 distinct false claims in just the first three months of 2025. Many of these appeared strategically crafted to boost morale of supporters of the former ruling party, often through coordinated efforts. However, a significant challenge arises when these narratives, no matter how improbable, are readily accepted by grassroots supporters because they align with their pre-existing beliefs or biases. One such example took place in Noakhali's Chatkhil, where some Jubo League activists staged a public protest in January after online rumours claimed that chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus had resigned and fled the country. The demonstrators were later arrested. This goes to show how rumours can lead to real-world actions and consequences. 

Disinformation has become so pervasive nowadays that it sometimes seems as though nearly everyone is complicit in it. Even influential newspapers like The New York Times have not been immune. In 2003, prior to the US invasion of Iraq which was largely justified by claims that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), New York Times journalist Judith Miller published a series of reports on Iraq's alleged WMD programme. These stories were used by the Bush administration to gain public support for the war but later revealed to be based on fabricated intelligence. Although Miller was forced to resign in 2005, by then the damage was already done as her false reporting contributed to a conflict that resulted in over a million Iraqi deaths.

The erosion of public trust in mainstream media is often cited as a contributing factor behind the growing appeal of social media. Traditional outlets are increasingly viewed as compromised due to political bias or reluctance to investigate critical issues or self-censorship for fear of reprisal. This trust vacuum has been filled by social media platforms, where the sheer volume of easily accessible, often unverified content exposes users to rampant misinformation. A recent viral video in Bangladesh exemplifies how false narratives in social media can take hold and sway public sentiment. The video showed an elderly man committing suicide by jumping in front of a train. Facebook posts accompanying the footage claimed he had been thrown out of his home by ungrateful sons after his wife's death. Outrage and condemnation followed. However, later it emerged that his wife was alive and his death was due to mounting debt, not for family issues. This case is just one among many such emotionally-charged false stories that rapidly circulate online and continue to mislead vast numbers of people. 

While this story might have had the plausibility to be true given the socio-economic reality, many rumours and misinformation circulating online do not. Yet they are still believed by many. A major part of the problem stems from the largely unregulated nature of major social media platforms like facebook. Users can post and share almost anything, often with no consequences. Worse, concerns have been raised about the platforms' own actions. Meta (facebook/Instagram) has already faced widespread criticism for suppressing pro-Palestine content even though they did not violate platform policies. When the very conduits of information are preventing the truth from coming out, how can users be expected to separate fact from falsehood?

In Bangladesh, the minority issue has historically been a fertile ground for disinformation. False reports and doctored images have a track record of inciting violence against minority communities. Now, a concerning trend is observed after the regime change where false information about attacks on minorities is being amplified on social media and in segments of the Indian press even when no such incidents have occurred. Often, unrelated images and videos are publicised online as supposed evidence of violence to provoke outrage. This not only sours bilateral relations but also plays directly into the hands of those who benefit from communal tension.

The arrival of artificial intelligence technology has further complicated the landscape. It is now easier than ever to fabricate convincing photos, videos, and audio recordings. Deepfake technology in particular blurs the line between reality and fiction. While some of these fabrications are easy to spot, others are sophisticated enough to fool even the most perceptive audiences.

Fake news is now a global epidemic. However, despite the pessimism surrounding disinformation and rumour, there remains a reason for cautious optimism. People do not enjoy being treated like fools repeatedly. No matter how persistently vested quarters push falsehood, the truth eventually comes out. When people find themselves deceived by fake news one too many times, they may stop ignoring their common sense, the evidence of their senses and experiences. Ultimately, developing mass awareness is the only real way to fight false information.

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