Children are growing up in an information ecosystem without being equipped with the necessary tools to assess what is true and what is false.
Society will only develop when children can understand and analyse the ecosystem as a whole, speakers emphasised at FactFest 2026.
The event was organised by Digitally Right in partnership with Fojo Media Institute under Media Safety in the Digital Age project, with support from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Speaking at a panel session regarding the role of fact-checking in strengthening public trust, Tasnim Jara, a doctor and a political personality, questioned what society is doing to make cyberspace safer for children.
She highlighted that children can absolutely learn to use tools to differentiate between what is true and what is false. The panel session was broadcast live on Facebook.
Citing studies, Jara explained that when children are provided with simplified manuals and asked whether information is reliable, likely to be true, or likely to be false, they can reliably discriminate between truth and falsehood once equipped with basic skills.
She urged that such awareness and operational skills must be taught not only in universities but also lower down in schools so that children can grow up prepared to operate in today’s world.
Echoing her views, Din M Sumon Rahman, dean of School of Social Sciences and Head of Media Studies, said society will be better if children understand the whole ecosystem.
He added that misinformation travels faster, while truth is often not very impressive or preferable to many, making the job of fact-checkers very difficult. Consequently, fact-checkers must present facts in a more palatable way to attract public attention.
Trust, AI and the challenge of fact-checking
Touching on artificial intelligence (AI), Din M Sumon Rahman stated that there should be separate laws on AI rather than a short segment inside the Cyber Security Law.
Another speaker on the panel, Sheela Tasneem Haq, senior governance specialist at UNDP Bangladesh, also addressed AI concerns.
She said amid the emergence of deepfake news, many fact-checkers are struggling to ensure the ethical use of AI along with an effective understanding of democratic institutions. She added that the critical question has become how the pathway of change will evolve and how trust will be ensured.
She said democracy is all about trust, which is directly related to truth, warning that if trust is absent, democratic institutions need to be revisited.
Paul Rapacioli, director of the Fojo Media Institute, said today everyone with a mobile phone or social media account is an editor to some extent, unlike previous information gatekeepers who received extensive training in information integrity.
He emphasised the need to use humour, compelling stories, and storytelling, noting that fact-checkers are fighting human nature and must not underestimate the need to sell their product without feeling that it cheapens the truth.
“Truth has to travel”
In his keynote address titled “Making Truth Travel” at FactFest 2026, Paul Rapacioli, director of Fojo Media Institute, emphasised that fact-checking is no longer only about establishing what is true, but also about finding ways to make verified information reach audiences and earn their trust.
Reflecting on how the information environment has changed over the past decade, he urged fact-checkers to think beyond simply correcting false claims.
Rapacioli recalled that on a November afternoon in 2016, while sitting in a café near his office, he received an email from a reader of The Local in England asking if Sweden had banned Christmas lights.
Upon looking out of his window, he saw a street full of Christmas lights sparkling in the gloom and wrote back confirming that Sweden had not banned Christmas lights, though he became curious about where the untrue idea originated.
The story originated from a Swedish public broadcaster reporting a routine local decision by the Swedish Transport Administration that Christmas lights could no longer be hung from certain lamp posts due to technical, legal, and safety reasons.
The unremarkable story was translated into English by a small news website, which added a sentence suggesting the decision was really about religion and toning down Sweden’s Christian traditions.
Although the original decision had nothing to do with religion, this message travelled through websites, blogs, and social media, reaching an audience far larger than the original report.
Rapacioli shared that fact-checking website Snopes debunked the claim, while a Swedish fact-checking team produced an explanatory video.
Meanwhile, The Local invited readers to send photographs of Christmas lights in their towns, receiving many submissions, and ran a humorous piece for years afterwards about how Sweden still had not banned Christmas lights.
He said the episode demonstrated how a small piece of truth can be removed from its context, given a new meaning, and turned into something entirely different.
He added that the video and photographs were attempts to give people something worth paying attention to and share, going beyond merely correcting the record.
The keynote also explored why people share misleading information, with Rapacioli noting that individuals may be drawn to content because it connects to existing beliefs, provides an explanation for their problems, or confirms their sense of belonging to a community.
Consequently, a fact-check may correct a claim without addressing the underlying reason it appealed to someone in the first place.
Urging fact-checkers to think creatively about presenting evidence, he argued that a good investigation can become a compelling story showing not only what is true, but how that conclusion was reached, mentioning: “Truth has to be established. Truth has to travel. And truth has to be trusted when it arrives.”
Rapacioli also highlighted the growing influence of social media platforms and content creators in determining how people encounter news, alongside the shift brought by artificial intelligence.
He said AI assistants can summarise or assess news and sources without users necessarily seeing original evidence, creating a new challenge where AI systems act as intermediaries presenting findings to audiences.
He concluded by emphasising the value of collaboration among fact-checkers, journalists, researchers, and open-source intelligence practitioners.
Sharing methods, tools, and investigative findings across organisations and borders allows professionals to respond to an information environment that increasingly crosses languages and national boundaries.
Building a fact-checking community
The event opened with remarks from HE Nicolas Linus Ragnas Weeks, ambassador of the Embassy of Sweden in Bangladesh; Miraj Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Digitally Right Limited; and Maria Petersson, project manager, Bangladesh, at Fojo Media Institute.
They welcomed participants to FactFest 2026 and highlighted the importance of bringing together fact-checkers, journalists, researchers, and other stakeholders to exchange experiences and strengthen efforts to address misinformation and disinformation in Bangladesh.
Miraj Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Digitally Right Limited, highlighted the importance of creating a fact-checking community to exchange experiences and combat misinformation.
He noted that while fact-checking began as an offshoot career in many countries, it started as an independent career and community in Bangladesh.
FactFest was established to build this community and prepare the ground to discuss emerging and existing problems, welcoming students to build an even stronger network.
He pointed out that while fewer than 35 fact-checkers gathered for the previous FactFest, over 80 fact-checkers from across the country attended this year.
Maria Petersson, project manager, Bangladesh, at Fojo Media Institute, welcomed guests, expressing pride in being part of FactFest and noting Fojo’s work with fact-checking in Sweden and Bangladesh.
In his opening remarks, Nicolas Linus Ragnas Weeks, ambassador of the Embassy of Sweden in Bangladesh, said Bangladesh is facing a fragile political shift involving disinformation and echo chambers that obscure the public space.
He stressed that building alliances and networks is crucial for credibility and reiterated Sweden’s commitment to ensuring every person has access to information and is protected from misinformation and disinformation based on non-discrimination and accountability, especially for vulnerable groups.
Ambassador Weeks added that media and civil society share a collective responsibility to uphold these values so journalists can report facts and investigate wrongdoing without fear, enabling citizens to feel confident in the credibility of information.
Pointing out that gender-based disinformation is rooted in traditional norms and legitimises undermining women’s participation in public life, he concluded: “Disinformation based on gender is rooted in traditional norms and it can legitimise undermining women’s participation in public life. No one can defend this information alone. We are in this together.”
