❐ Information Technology Desk
The spread of misinformation in Bangladesh has now become a national crisis. Millions of claims, images and videos are being spread on Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube every day — a large portion of which is unverified, distorted or outright false.
Political rumors, health misinformation, rehashes of old photos, deepfake videos — this flood of disinformation is creating instability in society, inciting violence, and gradually eroding the foundations of democratic discourse. The problem is not new, but its pace and scope are growing — and the need to build effective, credible, and independent institutions to counter it is also urgent.
It is in this context that FactCheckerLab — an independent fact-checking platform in Bangladesh, located at factcheckerlab.com — has begun its journey. Led by Fazley Rabbi and advised by Al Noman Shamim, this initiative has one guiding principle: evidence, not opinion, is the only criterion.
The organization has no editorial voice, no political stance — it synthesizes information from various trusted sources and presents it to the reader, leaving it up to the reader to decide what to believe.
What sets FactCheckerLab apart from other platforms is its radical transparency. All sources used, research methods used, and the full chain of evidence leading to the final verdict are made available to the reader.
The platform also makes the list of which sources it considers trustworthy public — meaning readers can not only read the results, but also verify the entire search process themselves. FactCheckerLab takes a clear stand on the often-complained lack of transparency in traditional fact-checking organizations.
The search process is structured in five stages. First, the Google Fact Check Tools database is searched to see if the claim has already been verified by internationally recognized organizations such as AFP Fact Check, Full Fact, PolitiFact, Snopes, and BOOM.
Secondly, information is sought from international news agencies such as Reuters, AP and AFP, as well as national media and government sources in Bangladesh, in both Bengali and English.
Third, the absence of evidence is also analyzed — determining why information does not support an event is also an integral part of the investigation.
Fourth, a forensic examination of submitted images and videos is conducted — looking for signs of editing, inconsistent lighting, and signs of digital manipulation.
Fifth, familiar patterns of misinformation are examined — overly urgent language, ambiguous quotes, recycling of old content, and emotional presentations.
After these five levels of investigation, each verdict is reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication — no results are published without verification.
The verdict categories are organized into 14 categories, following international fact-checking standards IFCN and ClaimReview. They don’t just include ‘true’ or ‘false’ — they also include more subtle categories like half-truths, misleading, fabrications, altered media, mis-captions, out of context, satire, hoaxes, outdated, and historical distortions.
This distinction is important, because real misinformation is often not so simple. A real photo shared with a false caption is not a ‘fake’, but a ‘false caption’. An old piece of information shared even after the situation has changed is ‘outdated’.
When the true events of history are presented in reverse for political purposes, it is ‘distortion of history.’ This subtlety helps the reader understand the true nature of a claim much more deeply.
FactCheckerLab is not just a publication, it is also a public participation platform. If you see any news, social media post, photo or video that you are suspicious of, any citizen can submit it for free by visiting factcheckerlab.com/submit.
Politics, health, social media, deepfakes, and international affairs — all kinds of claims are taken into account.
Although the platform is currently Bangladesh-centric, there are plans to expand its reach across South Asia.
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