DAVOS (Switzerland), Jan 23, 2025 – Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today urged Meta to take proactive measures to combat misinformation and fake news spreading through Facebook in Bangladesh.
Professor Yunus made this call during a meeting with Sir Nick Clegg, Meta’s Head of Global Affairs, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The discussion was also attended by Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser.
Professor Yunus highlighted the ongoing issue of misinformation, particularly pointing to the actions of oligarchs and politicians linked to the former regime of Sheikh Hasina. He claimed that these groups had siphoned off tens of billions of dollars from Bangladesh during her 15 years of rule and were now using their wealth to spread false information about the country.
“These people are now spending their fortune to spread lies and misinformation about Bangladesh,” Yunus told Clegg, who is also a former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In response, Sir Nick Clegg assured that Meta would continue its fact-checking and digital verification efforts in Bangladesh, acknowledging the country’s significance due to its large population, the eighth-largest in the world. He emphasized that Meta’s recent decision to stop fact-checking in the United States would not extend to Bangladesh or European countries.
Clegg also revealed that Meta plans to scale up its digital verification services in Bangladesh and explore user-driven fact-checking, similar to the model used by Wikipedia. Additionally, he offered Meta’s expertise in helping Bangladesh draft a new cyber security law.
“We have a lot of experience here,” Clegg said.
Furthermore, Clegg shared that Meta’s recently launched open-sourced AI, Llama, could bring revolutionary changes in sectors such as healthcare, farming, and education. He expressed hope that Llama would gain popularity among users in Bangladesh. In response, Professor Yunus suggested that Meta organize month-long training programs on Llama to open up new opportunities for Bangladesh’s youth.
The meeting also included Probir Mehta, Director of Policy Planning at Meta; Lamiya Morshed, the SDG Coordinator for the Bangladesh government; and Tareq Ariful Islam, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to Geneva.