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To restrain misinformation, disinformation, and fake news in Bangladesh, the fourth workshop session entitled “Confronting Misinformation in Bangladesh” was conducted in Dhaka on Monday.

In collaboration with the US State Department, the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), a research organization, organized the workshop. In attendance at the workshop there were journalists and fact-checkers from various Dhaka-based national media houses, said a press release.

Zillur Rahman, Executive Director of CGS, said, “The recent news outbreak of a fake adviser to President Joe Biden holding a press conference with political leaders in Bangladesh is another example of inadequate knowledge of fact checking procedure.”

Emphasizing the difficulties journalists currently encounter, he stated, “As the national election is knocking at the door, there is a high chance of spreading misinformation, disinformation & mal-information focusing on the election event.”

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“Additionally, journalists exhibit a deficiency in professionalism. Prior to disseminating news, it is critical to verify or fact-check the information conveyed. We believe that this workshop will help the journalists to improve their professionalism and will assist in fact checking,” he added.

Qadaruddin Shishir, Fact Check Editor of Agency France Presse (AFP), instructed journalists in the workshop on a variety of procedure, techniques and precautionary measures pertaining to fact checking in the media.

Various issues like election-centric misinformation, the characteristics of religious misinformation, and the present state of fact checking, the vulnerability of elections to misinformation, the comparative standing of Bangladesh in relation to other nations and strategies for addressing misinformation, were discussed in the event.

This is the second phase of ongoing efforts of CGS to prevent false information, rumors, and misleading news throughout the nation. Seven dialogue sessions with the presence of journalists, fact checkers, editors were organized by CGS in five divisional locations throughout the country during the initial phase.