Army warns of rumour, propaganda on social media

Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
The army has cautioned the people to remain aware of an ongoing plot to spread rumour and propaganda against the disciplined force on social media before the general elections, slated for Sunday.
In a statement, the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), also asked the citizens not to share contents propagated by “websites, Facebook pages, YouTube channels that publish fake news, rumour and propaganda” that are aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the army.
The statement also advised all concerned to visit the official website of the Bangladesh Army and its social media  accounts on Facebook and Youtube for any information regarding the army.
The warning came after social media giants Facebook and Twitter removed a number of active pages and accounts for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on Thursday.
Facebook said nine pages and six accounts mimicked independent news outlets and posted pro-government as well as anti-opposition content.
Twitter said it suspended 15 accounts “originating from Bangladesh for engaging in coordinated platform manipulation.”
The micro-blogging site’s security wing, Twitter Safety, had tweeted that based on their initial analysis, “it appears that some of these accounts may have ties to state-sponsored actors.”