Today, wars are fought on many fronts and in many forms. Currently, we face a war of disinformation that aims to tarnish our historic secular character, portray us as a nation of Islamic extremists, and portray us as a bankrupt nation of anarchy and chaos, without any state. of law. Even the layman of Bangladesh knows who is behind this and why this is being done. So I’m not going to delve into it. But this will have long-term implications for our foreign relations, our economy and above all our sovereignty. Please note that I said we are “facing” a war. This is because we are not “fighting” it yet. To combat it, we need the united efforts of the government, the army and all other institutions. Every citizen is important in the fight against this information war. Because you have the power to fight it.

Information warfare mainly takes place in the media and on social networks. We are exposed to it and it comes to us through our television, through X, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media. Every day we witness disinformation, hateful speech or content, false representations of a country or population, racism, publications provoking violence. All of this goes against the policies of all major social media outlets. So if you report it, they won’t post it. And it’s just a few clicks away. This is all Bangladesh can expect from you.

Here are instructions from social media sites. You can choose between disinformation, hate speech, incitement to violence or other similar options.

YouTube:

YouTube reviewers reported videos 24/7. A video can be reported at any time after it is uploaded to YouTube. If our review team finds no violations, no report will change that and the video will remain on our site.

Log in to YouTube.

Navigate to the video you want to report.

Below the video, click More Report.

Select the reason that best matches the violation in the video.

Click NEXT.

Provide any other details that might help the review team make their decision. Include timestamps or descriptions of the violation, if possible.

Click REPORT.

Note: To check the status of a video you reported, view your reporting history.

For more information:

X(Twitter):

Navigate to the post you want to report.

Tap the icon at the top of the post.

Select Publish Report and follow the steps so we can gather all relevant information about the issue.

Depending on the type of issue you report, you may or may not receive a response from us with a result.

For more information:

Facebook:

Navigate to the post you want to report.

Click at the top right of the message.

Click Report Post.

To report, select the option that best describes how this post violates our community standards. On the summary screen, click Submit.

Reporting helps us keep our platforms secure and helps our systems detect when something is wrong. We remove things if they go against our community standards, but you can also unfollow, block, or delete your friends to avoid seeing similar things in the future. Click Done.

For more information:

LinkedIn:

Click the Plus icon in the right corner of the post on your LinkedIn homepage.

Click Report This Post.

Select the applicable reason in the Why are you reporting this box? pop-up window and follow the on-screen instructions.

Click Submit to proceed with reporting the post, or Back to review your options.

For more information:

Other social media have a similar process. Please note that you can report a post, video, content, conversation, profile or even the channel. You may think your reporting doesn’t matter, but imagine if there were millions of reports of content spreading misinformation. We will respond positively with evidence and facts. We will win in the end.

Shahed Iqbal is a social activist who lives in the United States.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Follow The Daily Star’s opinion on Facebook for the latest reviews, comments and analysis from experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to the Daily Star Opinion, visit our submission guidelines.