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SOCIAL media platforms such as Facebook, You Tube, TikTok, X, WhatsApp, etc are powerful tools of information and can be used to build public opinion. The flow of right information makes an individual more powerful, more knowledgeable. It not only broadens the intellectual horizon of individuals but also helps them to make correct decisions.

We have to recognise that social media activists and journalists acted as important catalysts in the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina. The July–August uprising culminated with Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India on August 5.

Looking back, it becomes clear that the stage for overthrowing Hasina had been in the making ever since she started to show portents of fascism. Her repressive style of governance was not immediately evident when she took over as prime minister for the second time in January 2009. It manifested slowly as she consciously started to destroy democracy and establish a despotic system.

After the 2014 elections, the Awami League government under Sheikh Hasina became more autocratic. The government deliberately politicised security forces. Branches of the police and Rapid Action Battalion were routinely used to suppress leaders and activists of opposition political parties. All the security agencies were turned into dreaded Frankensteins. People also became victims of police repression and harassment.

The Hasina government knew that the freedom of press was its enemy. The government moved to curtail the freedom of expression. Most of both electronic and print media came under the Awami League government’s repressive control. Almost all newspapers had to toe the government line of ‘Mujibbad’. Television channels had to sing the Mujibbad tune. Ministries and departments had to uphold the ‘Mujib cult’. True information was distorted.

Despite severe pressure and harassment, the opposition political parties tried to face the Awami League with peaceful political programmes. But the government devised all kinds of evil tactics to disrupt opposition political activities. Large-scale arrests, lodging fictitious cases, incarceration in ‘aynaghar’ and setting Chhatra League hoodlums on opposition activists were its established policy. In fact, the Awami League established a reign of terror. That was the time when the anti-government people were picked up by the police and the Rapid Action Battalion. Many were killed or many disappeared without trace.

Hasina also set up the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre in 2008 under the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence. Its job was to intercept electronic communications such as phone calls and e-mails and examine social media accounts, etc. The centre used some of the most sophisticated equipment to track anti-government activists.

To make matters worse, the Awami League government made the draconian Digital Security Act in October 2018. The Editors’ Council strongly opposed the law and demanded its repeal. It was a feared law because some of the provisions were vague and ambiguous and were used to suppress dissenters against the government. The police had the power to detain anyone on charges of being anti-state. It was used to arrest journalists, activists and unsuspecting people using social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, etc.

The Digital Security Act was replaced with Cyber Security Act in September 2023 because of criticism from human rights organisations from abroad and within Bangladesh. However, this new law was more or less the same as the old one, with some cosmetic changes. Between 2018 and 2023, at least 4,520 people were charged in 1,436 cases under these two acts.

Many anti-Hasina journalists and activists fled the country to avoid repression and took refuge in Europe and the United States. Most of those who remained in Bangladesh either kept a low profile or refrained from criticising the government. Those who had to leave the country did not sit idle. They started the campaign against the fascist rule of Sheikh Hasina on platforms such asÌý YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which were easily accessible to people. Some journalists also started channels on social media platforms.

The depth and spread of communication technology in Bangladesh is good. By December 2023, Bangladesh had 131 million internet subscribers, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Of them, 118 million were using the mobile internet. This meant that most citizens had access to digital information. Given the insufferable situation in the country, the programmes and videos of expatriate online journalists quickly gained popularity in Bangladesh. These activists soon became household names.

The activists established reliable ‘contacts’ within the country who supplied them with authentic news and video footage of events. This helped the journalists to uploaded interesting videos with facts and figures. Some of the online activists used foul words in their videos. Yet, people accessed them for amusement and information. These programmes also helped to build a strong anti-Hasina sentiment amongst the people.

To counter such activists, Mohammad Ali Arafat established an online venture named Suchinta Foundation in 2013. Arafat who, after the farcical elections of 2024, became the state minister for information, started a disinformation campaign about events and the history of Bangladesh. But people did not pay much heed to the programem.

On July 1, the Gen Z students came out on the streets against the quota system for appointment in government jobs. On July 8, the students established a 65-member committee of 23 coordinators and 42 co-coordinators. They refrained from calling themselves ‘leaders’. The coordinators came from different educational institutions spread across the country. On August 3, as the movement grew in scale, the students formed a 158-member coordination team, with 49 coordinators and 109 co-coordinators.

All the Gen-Z coordinators communicated amongst themselves through different communication platforms. As police repression and shooting continued on demonstrators, people made videos with their mobiles and quickly shared them with others. The coordinators of Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet, etc knew exactly what the coordinators in Dhaka wanted them to do. That was how the movement spread nationwide. Their coordination was, indeed, very effective.

Many video clips on police atrocities and shooting went viral. The one that shook and outraged the nation was of Abu Sayeed, shot by the police on July 16. He was a bachelor’s student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur. The social media activists were working at full throttle. By late July, the coordinators pushed their movement to get rid of fascist Hasina.

Hasina was gripped with panic as the movement surged relentlessly. An alarmed Junaid Ahmed Palak, Hasina’s state minister for telecommunications, imposed a total shutdown on the internet across the country on July 18. Hasina hoped that the students could be stopped from communicating with one other and the movement would fizzle out.

The shutdown disconnected the country from the rest of the world. But more important, the coordinators could not communicate amongst themselves over the social media. Mobiles connection was, however, in operation. Under pressure, Junaid Palak restored the internet partially on July 23. During this period, the police went about killing and maiming demonstrators without any restraint. People were gripped with fear as one could not get any news on what was happening in different parts of the country. On July 28, the 4G network connectivity was restored by the minister. However, social media such as Facebook, TikTok, You Tube and WhatsApp remained restricted. The restoration of the internet helped the coordinators to re-establish contacts with one other. They then pushed their ‘oust Hasina’ movement with renewed vigour.

As the students-people upheaval continued to gain strength, Hasina wanted to eliminate leaders of the movement. She directed the NTMC to track down and arrest leading coordinators of the movement. As the coordinators were using mobiles, the NTMC quickly tracked down six main coordinators and the government arrested them. Nahid Islam, Abu Baker Majumdar and Asif Mahmud were arrested on July 26 at a hospital. Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah were detained on July 27. Nusrat Tabassum, the only female coordinator, was arrested on July 28.

These six coordinators were kept in the Detective Branch office on Minto Road under Harun-or Rashid. DB Harun, as he was known, said that they had been detained ‘for their safety’. Harun drafted a statement and made the coordinators read it, saying that the movement was over. But after serious criticism and pressure from the people, the six coordinators were released form the Detective Branch custody on August 1.

By August 3, the movement had reached a point of no return. Hasina knew that her days were over. When the army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, said that his soldiers would not shoot at students, Sheikh Hasina hurriedly packed her belongings and fled to India on August 5.

The 36-day uprising, from July 1 to August 5, was packed with dreadful blood-stained events. It is estimated that more than 875 students, including dozens of children, died in police and Chhatra League firing. And, according to some reports, 20,000 more were injured.

The five main features of the movement were: (a) it was an organic uprising which grew on its own because of tremendous opposition to Hasina,Ìý (b) it was apparently non-political in nature as no political leader was involved although Gen-Z members of all political formations participated in it actively, (c) non-partisan journalists and online activists shook off Hasina’s restrictions and reported courageously on television and in newspapers as the movement progressed, even during the internet blackout, and (d) people love a free, democratic society, and (e) the uprising revolved around information and communication technology,

The student-people uprising is a turning point in Bangladesh’s political history. It overthrew a fascist regime. A new Bangladesh is now being built where there will be democracy, the rule of law and human rights. All citizens will enjoy equal rights. It would be a second republic.

However, the caveat here is that the technology can be misused also. Disinformation spread on social networks and news outlets can also be used for political propaganda. This may lead to building opinions on false information that can play a havoc in a society. To check against this phenomenon of ‘fake news’, a check has been started by Rumor Scanner and bots.

The most vivid example is the propaganda blitzkrieg that the Indian Godi media have unleashed against Bangladesh, playing the minority card. The Bharatiya Janata Party-aligned media are derogatorily called ‘Godi’ media. The news delivered by Godi media has been found to be ‘fake’ by Rumour Scanners and the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle and other credible channels. Sections of the Hindu community in India are in a frenzy against Bangladesh on the fake news that Hindus are persecuted.

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Mahmood Hasan is a former ambassador/secretary.