Sayeed Al-Zaman

Social media has become a key news source worldwide, transforming how people access and consume news. Despite easy access and availability of news, many users gradually tend to disengage from news consumption. Research indicates that factors such as overload and fatigue contribute to this trend, while some psychological mechanisms remain less understood, especially in non-Western contexts. To address this, we surveyed 417 Bangladeshi social media users who consume news and tested four hypotheses. Our multiple regression analysis revealed that belief-based selective avoidance, perceived threat, and news redundancy are positively associated with news avoidance, with perceived threat being the strongest factor (β = 0.24, p < 0.001). News redundancy (β = 0.16, p = 0.001) and belief-based selective avoidance (β = 0.10, p = 0.039) also play significant roles. Trust showed a weaker, nonsignificant effect (β = −0.04, p = 0.383). These results indicate that news avoidance reflects selective disengagement from news perceived as threatening, repetitive, or belief-incongruent. By focusing on Bangladesh, this study broadens research on social media news avoidance to the Global South. Exploring some tentative steps for news outlets, such as promoting constructive journalism and reviewing digital-friendly editorial policies, could help reduce news avoidance. Limitations remain in sampling, among others.

Despite official recognition in 2013, the Hijra community in Bangladesh continues to endure persistent discrimination and exclusion, limiting them to traditional and menial professions and perpetuating their cycle of poverty and marginalization. This study examines the economic potential of digital media for the Hijra community and the barriers they face in harnessing it for economic empowerment. Through qualitative analysis conducted via semi-structured interviews with Hijra participants, we explore their perceptions of digital media’s opportunities and challenges. Thematic analysis reveals that while Hijras primarily use digital media for psychological needs, they recognize its potential for economic empowerment. However, they encounter barriers, such as financial constraints, limited education and digital literacy, and societal stigma, hindering their ability to leverage digital platforms for economic advancement. Drawing from our findings, we propose actionable recommendations, including policy changes, enhanced online safety measures, educational initiatives for digital literacy, public awareness campaigns, and financial assistance to enable the Hijra community to fully harness the economic potential of digital media and alleviate their socioeconomic struggles.

Social bots have played a significant role in shaping global political events, despite regions’ economic, social, and political differences. However, their presence and impact on social movements remain poorly understood, which underscores the need for further academic inquiry. Consequently, relying on the concept of computational propaganda, we conducted a computational analysis of approximately 1.30 million public comments on Facebook during the July Revolution of 2024 in Bangladesh, utilizing specialized methods for bot detection, network analysis, and topic modeling. Our findings indicate that 22.27% of the comments were likely generated by bots. We discovered a well-organized network of bots that utilized template-based message crafting, mass duplication of messages, and systematic distribution efforts to disseminate propaganda and control the narrative of the movement. The topics discussed by the bots varied according to the event’s timeline and intensity, closely mirroring real-time developments. This suggests that bots may have helped initiate and guide activities, or influence and amplify the dynamics and outcomes of the event.

Journalism has become increasingly dangerous in recent years as anti-press violence has escalated globally, placing journalists in increased peril. The prevalence of journalist killings, the most severe form of physical violence against the press, demands further scholarly attention to address human rights violations and offer new insights for protective interventions. This study uses mediation analysis to examine how a country’s democracy level may indirectly reduce journalist killings through political stability and press freedom. Findings reveal that democracy alone ( β = 0.203, p = .017) is associated with a higher likelihood of journalist killings. However, democracy, through increased political stability and enhanced press freedom ( β = −0.170, p < .001), indirectly reduces killings. Similarly, increased democracy with enhanced press freedom alone ( β = −0.107, p < .001) significantly reduces killings. We emphasize the need for further research on impunity and civil society’s role in protecting journalists. This study addresses methodological and conceptual gaps in previous literature, advocating for press freedom as essential to safeguarding journalists.

The intersection of politics and religion in India has gained significant scholarly attention, particularly since the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in 2014. The increasing impact of social media on Indian politics has intensified this concern. However, it is yet to be fully explored how social media was used for religiopolitical purposes during the Indian election in 2024. We computationally analyzed 3082 Facebook posts using BERTopic, word embedding, and cluster analysis to understand how politicians, political candidates, political organizations, and political parties intertwined religion and politics during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. We identified the presence of religiopolitical propaganda, primarily aimed at reviving and recreating Hindu nationalist history and targeting religious minorities, mainly Muslims. The major topics of the posts included ideological legacy, political landscape, party and leadership, celebrations, crime and justice, local politics and governance, politicized demographic trends, public engagements, spiritual and philosophical themes, and the misrepresented reservation issue. The interconnectedness of these issues suggests that the BJP and its allies concentrated on religious matters, from Hindu–Muslim debates to reservations for Muslims and the inauguration of Hindu temples. Data from non-political entities, such as influencers, as well as cross-platform analysis from Twitter and YouTube, can extend and enrich these insights.

We investigated global social media censorship trends in this research, addressing three essential scholarly gaps: (a) Variations in censorship across countries, (b) the platforms most heavily impacted, and (c) the evolution of censorship over time. With a focus on eight frequently targeted platforms—Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Twitter, and Reddit—we scrutinized 360 instances of social media censorship spanning 76 countries from 2006 to 2023. Our findings illustrate a growing governmental control, particularly noticeable in the Global South, with Turkey (6.39%), Sri Lanka (6.11%), Venezuela (5.56%), and Pakistan (5%) at the top of the list of frequently censoring countries. Among the platforms, Facebook (22.22%) and YouTube (21.94%) bear the brunt. Moreover, the escalating control over social media since 2018 signals an emergent global digital authoritarianism. Discernible geographical disparities in platform-specific restrictions prompt reflection on the nexus between censorship and political motivations. Additionally, our results suggest a plausible correlation between censorship practices and prevailing political systems. Enhanced comprehension of this problem could be derived from an augmented focus on the underlying reasons for censorship. This study offers a foundational evaluation of global social media censorship, setting it apart from internet censorship and laying the groundwork for further exploration.