Even on life support, Kaarina Kaiser faced hate speech from Awami League
Bangladeshi content creator and actress Kaarina Kaiser is on life support. On May 9, her father, Kaiser Hamid, a former Bangladeshi football player, confirmed the news. Liver-related complications placed her in the Intensive Care Unit. Later, her condition deteriorated into liver failure, and she was placed on life support on the night of May 8. Her family and colleagues have requested prayers for her recovery.
Amid this, an organized campaign of hate speech surrounding Kaiser is circulating on social media. Dismislab found at least 53 posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) targeting her illness to spread hateful rhetoric against Kaiser and her family. The reason: her participation in July Uprising in 2024 that overthrew the country’s ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League.
After news of Kaarina Kaiser’s illness began trending, a post targeting her was identified by Dismislab. There, she was labeled a “looter of Ganabhaban,” the former official residence of Bangladesh’s prime minister. A search using relevant keywords led Dismislab to 47 posts on Facebook and six on X. Verification of the personal profiles and pages that made the posts revealed affiliations with the Awami League, which was removed from power during the uprising.
A keyword search using the Facebook search tool “Who Posted What” showed the first such post was made on Facebook at 5:45 p.m. on May 9. A personal profile posted three photos of Kaiser with the caption, “This Kaarina Kaiser and her mother are looters of Ganabhaban. Yet this girl had met the ‘Apa’ (referring to Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina) and talked to her in a program. For the sake of a few paltry dollars, she joined the movement with the July terrorists. Then, on Aug. 5, she carried out looting in Ganabhaban. They are traitors, looters, and cheaters.” Affiliation with the Awami League was found with this profile.
An analysis of the posts regarding Kaiser shows that in most posts, she was labeled with hateful terms like “Ganabhaban looter” and “thief.” A post from a personal profile named “Dalton Souvat Hira” on May 9 stated, “I am sure if the Awami League were here, Kaarina Kaiser, this elephant’s girlfriend (intent of body shaming) would have collected all necessary money from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. A special thanks to Tarique Rahman, who does not let these elephants’ pimps get anywhere near him.”
Another profile posted, “The mother is a thief of the leader’s bag, and the father is also a laptop thief from Ganabhaban … and today Allah is taking their daughter … the punishment for sins must be endured in this world or the hereafter. Allah gives temporary respite, but He does not let go … this is proven once again. Kaarina’s father, Kaiser Hamid, is a laptop thief. Kaarina’s mother also stole the leader’s bag and comb from Ganabhaban that day. The destruction of all these thieves is certain today or tomorrow.”
As of the publication of this report, Dismislab found 19 such posts in a Facebook group named “Supporters of Bangladesh Awami League.” One profile posted in the group, “Someone from America send dollars for this thieving elephant! All those who are red monkeys of July (Slang used by Awami supporters to describe the July Uprising participants) are having such accidental deaths. What is the matter?” Another member wrote, “Ganabhaban looter and July thief Kaarina Kaiser is on life support. Alhamdulillah (allpraise is due to Allah).”
Awami League-aligned activist Nijhoom Majumder posted a video on the matter with the caption, “Kaarina Kaiser: Theft at Ganabhaban, journey toward death and others.” In one part of the video, he said, “Today Kaarina could have received everyone’s sympathy, love, affection, and kindness. Together everyone would have helped Kaarina today. But look, because of this dirty work, a large portion of Bangladesh – who love the liberation war, free thinkers, who love Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina’s late father), who love the Awami League – I will leave the Awami League aside; those who are on the side of the pro-liberation forces, they have moved away from this girl. She has become a public enemy.”
Hate speech regarding Kaiser was also seen spreading in multiple posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) on the social media platform X. An account named “BD for Nouka” (Nouka or boat is Awami League’s electoral symbol) posted on May 10, writing, “That day (the day of the August 5 militant attack), the daughter and the parents looted Ganabhaban, abused our beloved leader in unspeakable language; today they are asking us for prayers!”
On May 9, an account on X posted, “Kaiser Hamid took his whole family to loot Ganabhaban; if Sheikh Hasina were in power (now), she might have helped a bit, now let him go and beg from Tarique Zia (current Prime Minister of Bangladesh) without selling his land…… It’s natural that this will be the fate of the conspirator July warriors, but instead of being beaten by the people, they are standing before Allah’s judgment…. what’s happening!!!”
The reason why such hate speech or posts of almost identical language are made on social media is highlighted in the research “Commanding the Trend: Social Media as Information Warfare,” published in the Strategic Studies Quarterly journal. This study states, “One of the primary principles of propaganda is that the message must resonate with the target. Therefore, when presented with information that is within your belief structure, your bias is confirmed and you accept the propaganda. If it is outside of your network, you may initially reject the story, but the volume of information may create an availability heuristic in your mind. Over time, the propaganda becomes normalized—and even believable.”
The study also explains how social media trends are used to spread such hate speech beyond specific circles and make it believable. Researcher Gerard Prunier wrote, “Social media facilitates the spread of a narrative outside a particular social cluster of true believers by commanding the trend. It hinges on four factors: (1) a message that fits an existing, even if obscure, narrative; (2) a group of true believers predisposed to the message; (3) a relatively small team of agents or cyber warriors; and (4) a network of automated “bot” accounts.”
