Fake news and rumours can be a big challenge during the upcoming national election, and that's why police have planned to set up district-level media cells to control the spread of rumours centring polls, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP) Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam.

“After verifying information, these cells will coordinate with the media cell in Dhaka so that it can provide a quick response to the mainstream media about alleged rumours,” added the DMP official.

He was speaking at a discussion titled “National Election: Role of Broadcast Media in Checking Rumours and Violence”, organised by Media Museum of Bangladesh and held at a restaurant in the city's Segun Bagicha yesterday.

“There is an apprehension of violence by spreading rumours centring the upcoming national polls. Some groups in the country and abroad are active to spread rumours,” Monirul said, citing examples from past experience.

He said rumours are of two types: “innocent rumours” that don't create any violence, and “intentional” ones, intended to create anarchy. “It's [intentional rumours] a big challenge,” the DMP official added.

Monirul said reporters should verify information with their own sources before publishing it.

According to the Election Commission's instructions, no one can take videos or pictures inside voting centres. “In that case, there should not be any misunderstanding with polls officials. It's just a duty for them,” Monirul added.

Rahul Raha, head of news at private TV station Channel 24, said a reporter should report what he is seeing. “If they are barred from entering the voting centre, they will say that. But they should not assume anything,” he said.

Badiul Alam Majumdar, Secretary of Shusashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) said he too is a victim of fake news, as some online portals spread propaganda about him and his organisation, when his residence was attacked in August.

He also said if fake news could have impacted the presidential election in the US, its effects can potentially be much more severe in a country like Bangladesh.

Ferdous Mamun, chief news editor at SA TV, said journalists should be free from any political identity. “If a journalist works for any political party, then how can we expect authentic news from them?” Mamun questioned.

The speakers said just as people should be aware of rumours, journalists should also be aware of authenticity of their news. Some journalists present at the roundtable took up the issue of the recent road safety protests, where fake news was in abundance on social media.

Syed Ishtiaque Reza, editor-in-chief of GTV, said “Facebook can only be used as a clue for news, but not a source.”

The journalists also shared their experiences of getting late response from different government agencies during times of crisis, adding that it sometimes becomes too late to stop rumours.

“A recent rumour about Bangabandhu Satellite-1 was doing rounds on social media. But in response, the government's press department needed a week to verify that it was fake news! Then how will they [the government] stop the circulation of fake news?” asked Ashish Saikat, chief news editor at Independent TV.