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Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), in collaboration with the US Department of State, arranged a dialogue titled "Confronting Misinformation in Bangladesh". The discussion was held at a hotel in Khulna on 22 February. This dialogue was the second of a series of dialogue and training sessions under a joint project by CGS and the US Department of State. The project aims to organize a series of dialogues with senior editors, journalists, professional fact-checkers and social media influencers to understand how misinformation is reproduced and recirculated in Bangladesh.

Present at the event were members of various media organizations in Bangladesh. The key speakers at the dialogue were: S M Nazrul Islam, President, Khulna Press Club, Editor, Ajker Tathyo and Qadaruddin Shishir, Fact Check Editor, AFP

According to S M Nazrul Islam, Digital Security Act is harassing journalists. The voice of journalist is suppressed by political mechanisms. General public doesn't trust media anymore because it is now people who speak the truth and it is media which spreads the misinformation. General people now rely on social media, YouTube for news which doesn't have any accountability. He also added that, journalists in no position can disclose the source because disclosing the source will make the upcoming news from that particular source unavailable for them.

Qadaruddin Shishir stated that "What is the position of Bangladesh in the misinformation world can be answered by what is the main source of misinformation in Bangladesh, which is 'social media' in general opinion. Unfortunately, newspaper or news media is the most influential medium of misinformation. The information general public get from mass media is mostly controlled by politicians, researchers, and businessman. Journalists may not able to solve the dilemma of allegedly published false information because of shadow mechanism working behind. But the news which is published because of lack of proper investigation or adequate knowledge on the particular topic can be prevented.

He also added that News related with religious sentiment which can induce fear and protest among intolerant groups is harmful for human security, abd national security.

News Courtesy:

https://dailyasianage.com/news/302258/journalists-discuss-ways-to-fight-fake-news?fbclid=IwAR2N4WqhawbiOdnx9rnGrhtc-Q-jU8md6k8oQza6t6RdPDY_theIuDErPXI