Yunus urges Meta to find effective ways to combat disinformation

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has called on Meta Platforms Inc. to take concrete and effective measures against the spread of disinformation on its platforms in Bangladesh. He expressed concern that misleading content on social media, particularly Facebook, could undermine social harmony and incite unrest in a densely populated country like Bangladesh.

"This (disinformation) is a big problem. You must find a way to fight it," Yunus told Meta’s senior delegation during a meeting held at the State Guest House Jamuna on Tuesday. The delegation included Simon Milner, Vice President of Public Policy for the Asia-Pacific region, and Ruzan Sarwar, Public Policy Manager at Meta.

Yunus emphasized the double-edged nature of social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. While they offer tremendous potential for economic and business growth, he warned that they could become dangerous if ethical standards are not rigorously maintained.

"Bangladesh is a densely populated country. One wrong word can destabilise the whole country. Some people do it deliberately," he added.

In response, Simon Milner assured the Chief Adviser that Meta is committed to addressing the issue of disinformation, particularly in light of the upcoming general election next year. He noted that Meta has had a dedicated team for Bangladesh for the past five years and recently held meetings with various government entities and human rights groups to strengthen its efforts.

"We are ready to engage further with the government of Bangladesh to counter disinformation and support a safe digital environment," Milner said.

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, was also present at the meeting. He stressed the need for Meta to improve its Bangla language capabilities, noting that the company‍‍`s large language models (LLMs) and AI systems still rely heavily on English.

Taiyeb echoed the demands made during Meta‍‍`s earlier meeting with the ICT Ministry, where Bangladeshi officials urged the tech giant to invest more in Bangla LLM development, sentiment analysis in Bangla, and an expanded team of human content reviewers to better detect and manage false or harmful content.

The visit by Meta officials highlights the growing dialogue between global tech platforms and Bangladeshi authorities ahead of key national events, with both sides recognizing the importance of digital integrity and linguistic inclusion in maintaining peace and public trust.