Reuters reveals anti-Bangladesh social media propaganda

Social media users while discussing August fuel hike protests in Bangladesh have mistakenly shared unrelated footage from 2013, suggesting it is from 2022, said an article produced by the Reuters Fact Check team published on Thursday, reports BSS.

It said the video shows people looking at objects on fire in the street and launching projectiles, as well as police officers deploying tear gas.

"Bangladesh... protests and hard clashes have erupted in several cities after the government has decided to increase petrol prices by 51 percent and diesel by 42 percent effective midnight... Huge lines are reported at petrol stations all over Bangladesh," wrote one Twitter user who shared the video on August 7. 

The tweet has been liked thousands of times.

Another iteration on Facebook includes the caption: "BANGLADESH... protests and hard clashes have erupted in several cities after the government has decided to increase PETROL & DIESEL prices ..."

Bangladesh raised fuel prices by around 50 percent on August 6, a move that will trim the country's subsidy burden, the article said. 

Referring to a statement of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, it added that the South Asian country's US$416 billion economy has been one of the fastest growing in the world for years. Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, price for petrol was increased by 51.2 percent to Taka 130 (US$1.38) per litre, 95-octane gasoline by 51.7 percent to Taka 135 and diesel and kerosene by 42.5 percent.

According to local media, people have indeed been protesting against the hike. However, a reverse image search shows that the video is not related to the 2022 demonstrations.

The video can be traced back to May 2013 and shows movement of hardline Islamists group Hefajat-e-Islam of that period.

The Twit and miscaptioned videos were also embedded with the Reuters article.