Each day we hear striking news surrounding Bangladesh’s borders, like, stories from the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar or clashes on the India border. Various social media videos or WhatsApp messages claim that border posts have been attacked, or dozens are dead. At Bangladesh Defence Journal (BDJ), we prioritize verifying authenticity of these stories over rushing to publish these. We have a fact-checking process that occurs internally to confirm any reporting is factual. Here’s how we do it-
Source Weighting:
Source weighting is the process of allocating differing degrees of priority or influence to various sources of information, data, or components when determining a final result. The first thing we do in this process is ask “Who is telling or sharing the story?” If we hear a story about gunshots heard in a border area by a villager, we write it down, however, we do not proceed to publish it right away. We check if Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has issued any official statement. Then we compare the credibility of both sources. If we find multiple individuals reporting the same incident, then that raises the weight of their story. Similarly, we look closely at any viral social media posts before determining its authenticity. Is it a verified news page or just a meme or satire account that was created only last week with almost no followers? When that happens, we mark the story as “unverified”.
Cross-checks:
Cross-checking is the process of verifying information using a different source or method. We start cross-checking every detail once we have our claim and its sources. If we find a Facebook post that says, “There was a confrontation on the Satkhira border last night,” our team starts gathering the reports of national dailies, calling the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) duty office, and then finding out if the local police or hospital mentioned any injuries on the reported night. This is what journalists typically call “triangulation”, where we check multiple independent sources until we feel more confident about the validity and reliability of the information. If the Facebook post, the BGB press statement, and the hospital records are all reporting the same events, then the news is likely to be authentic. However, if only one anonymous online page states this, with no confirmation from a trusted news channel or an official source, it could be a false alarm.
Chrono/Geo-location:
Chrono/Geo-Location verification determines when and where a picture or video is captured. It combines metadata, visual clues, environmental features and AI enhanced tools to analyze and investigate the authenticity of contents. After analyzing the metadata of the document, we can investigate landmarks like hills, fences, buildings, street signs, business signs, and graffiti to determine where the document was located. Time can be further confirmed with shadows and the weather. Additionally, manipulated or AI-generated contents can be detected by using tools like Google Earth, SunCalc, Reality defender and Hive Moderation. Hence, by combining metadata and AI verification, we ensure the credibility of content.
Red-flag Indicators:
Red-flag indicators are warning flags in contents that require additional verification before publication, such as unusual source, conflicting information, or biased narratives. If a social media post says, “Bangladesh lost control of the border,” we do not trust the news immediately. Moreover, if we observe that the page has changed its name multiple times recently and the post is mostly shared in private Telegram or WhatsApp groups, then these are signals for us to carefully examine every detail. However, such signals do not always indicate false news and thus, we need to cross-check it with several eyewitnesses, local journalists, and official statements. Even if it takes longer to verify, our goal is to ensure that every news we publish is authentic and trustworthy.
Photo Courtesy: Rumor Scanner
Photo Courtesy: Rumor Scanner
Photo Courtesy: Rumor Scanner
This is the standard process BDJ follows while reporting any border-incident claims, ensuring accuracy and fairness.
Afiya Ibnath Ayshi is a Fellow at Bangladesh Defence Journal. She covers defence, foreign affairs, and humanitarian issues, focusing on how regional and global developments influence Bangladesh’s security and diplomacy. A graduate in English from the University of Dhaka, she brings a research-based and balanced approach to her work.