False internet shutdown claims spread before Bangladesh's landmark vote
- Published on February 12, 2026 at 03:43
- 2 min read
- By Rasheek MUJIB, AFP Bangladesh
As Bangladesh geared up for its first election since a deadly 2024 uprising ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina, rumours of an internet shutdown spread widely on social media. AFP journalists in the South Asian nation reported no such outage, and the false posts misrepresent an old news report.
"Internet services will be shut down on election day and the day before," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared February 10, 2026.
It includes an 18-second clip of a news bulletin where the presenter says internet services will be partially shut down for 20 hours.
Similar posts spread on Facebook days before the Muslim-majority nation of around 170 million people goes to the polls on February 12 (archived link).
The election is Bangladesh's first since a student-led revolt overthrew former prime minister Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year autocratic rule.
Internet, mobile phone and TV broadcast services were cut off at that time, with social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp not loading for users (archived link).
But AFP journalists in Dhaka confirmed uninterrupted internet services the day before the election and on the morning of the vote.
The circulating claims are "absolutely false", said Election Commission Secretariat Director Md Ruhul Amin Mollick.
"We have never said anything about an internet shutdown during the election," Mollick told AFP on February 11.
Old report
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the clip in the posts found a longer version uploaded on the YouTube channel of news outlet Independent Television on October 30, 2023 (archived link).
The one-minute 13-second news segment is titled, "Internet connection will be down for submarine cable upgrade".
The anchor says the disruption -- scheduled October 30 and November 1 -- was due to upgrade works on the country's submarine cable.
Portions of the longer clip, including these dates, had been omitted in the falsely shared version.
Local media outlet The Daily Star also reported the issue (archived link).
AFP has fact-checked more misinformation around the Bangladesh election here.
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