How IPD lets ghost authors publish almost anything on Bangladesh— even propaganda, without checks
“Inflation is soaring, and interest rates have been hiked above 12%. Bangladeshis grappling with these challenges may soon start asking difficult questions: How does Ahsan Mansur’s daughter live in such extravagant comfort while the country struggles under severe financial strain? And how is it that Ahsan Mansur himself can relax in a three-story glass-and-steel ‘farmhouse’ while others tighten their belts?”
These words, published in the US-based International Policy Digest (IPD) on January 31, 2025, under the byline of one Tim Larkin, present a critique of Bangladesh interim government’s “hypocrisy” in investigating properties with links to Sheikh Hasina’s political party Awami League, but not the central bank governor who is investigating it. But there seems to be a problem—this Tim Larkin may not even exist.
In a month-long investigation, Dismislab found 10 articles on IPD website critical of Bangladesh’s post-uprising government have been written by authors who appear to have no verifiable identities or contacts, often using stolen profile images from sites like Shutterstock.
At least two of these articles written by ghost authors have been republished in Bangladeshi news sites without verification. They have also been shared and re-shared on social media (1, 2), including by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and other official pages of her Awami League party, amplifying questionable narratives.
One particular target of this campaign has been Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur. In March, he visited the UK to seek the British government’s support to repatriate stolen funds allegedly laundered abroad, including in the UK, by members of Sheikh Hasina’s government. At least three articles (1, 2, 3)–all coinciding with his visit–target him personally, his banking regulation policies and the reported “lavish life” of his daughter living abroad.
On March 24, 2025, The Guardian reported that MPs from the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Responsible Tax and Corruption received emails before a session with Dr. Mansur, also linking to International Policy Digest articles that questioned his daughter’s wealth. The emails, purportedly from a journalist and also a UK public relations firm, suggested MPs should investigate Mansur. The British newspaper could not trace this so-called journalist, and the public relations company refused to reveal on whose behalf it had sent the email to the MPs.
Our investigation reveals a serious lack in IPD’s editorial process, allowing targeted propaganda and misinformation to make their way onto the website and subsequently in media and social media. As part of this investigation, Dismislab submitted two articles to IPD for publication—one accusing the United Nations of bias in its report on the July uprising and another painting a positive picture of the National Citizen Party (NCP), led by students in the uprising. For each AI-generated article, Dismislab created fake authors using made-up names, stock photos, and false credentials. Both articles contained misinformation that had already been debunked. IPD published the article accusing the UN of bias, while the article praising the NCP remains unpublished.
Ghost Experts
The International Policy Digest, an online magazine founded in 2011 and based in Virginia, has long covered global current events, world affairs, and international relations. From its website, Dismislab documented 10 articles related to Bangladesh that were published after the political shift on August 5, 2024. All eight authors behind these articles were ghostly figures, with no verifiable identities, credentials, or contact details to substantiate their existence.
Tim Larkin’s article that discredits Dr. Mansur and his daughter gained widespread attention in Bangladeshi news outlets as well as on social media. Another ghost author, Kristopher O’Brian, also wrote one article before the uprising, criticizing the caretaker government system that the then-opposition parties had been demanding.
To verify the identities, Dismislab sought to find out if the authors have any presence on social media; whether their profile photos are authentic; whether there is any information about them online; and if they have an email address, website, or affiliation for contacts. All criteria returned negative results for the eight authors. They have no digital presence, and their profile photos published in the IPD were found on stock photo websites such as Shutterstock and Freepik with no accompanying names. No further information about them is available online, and there is no way to contact them.
When approached formally for response on their verification process, IPD’s Editor-in-Chief John Lyman said in an email that the platform operates on a level of trust with its writers, and admitted that some “fake authors may have slipped through,” given the publication has nearly 3,000 contributors. He added that some authors occasionally requested anonymity, which he granted, but he did not clarify whether they conduct any background checks before publishing articles.
IPD does not publish articles solely from fake authors; the site regularly features pieces from writers with strong credentials. For example, it published at least five articles on Bangladesh before the uprising, all written by authors with verifiable credentials and largely explored the country’s historical trajectory, regional politics, and economic prospects. However, the investigation found that its editorial and verification process is so weak that anyone can bypass it and get propaganda pieces published without scrutiny.
Narratives of instability in ghost articles
The first article in IPD’s post-August Bangladesh coverage titled “Is Bangladesh’s Transition South Asia’s ‘Arab Spring’ Moment?“ framed Bangladesh’s political situation as a crisis comparable to Egypt’s post-revolution instability and Tunisia’s democratic decline. But gradually, the target of these authors seems to have shifted toward the country’s financial system and its regulator, Dr. Mansur.
The earliest of these articles, “Crisis of Confidence: How Bangladesh’s Banking Woes Threaten Stability (November 13, 2024),” primarily critiques Bangladesh’s banking system, portraying it as unstable due to poor governance and inadequate oversight. While this article does not single out individuals, the subsequent three pieces shift toward personal attack on the governor. “A House of Glass: The Hypocrisy of Bangladesh’s Interim Government” (January 31, 2025) introduced a narrative of elitism and hypocrisy, using Mansur’s daughter as an example to question whether those in financial leadership truly practice the discipline they advocate. The article focuses on her lifestyle, contrasting it with her father’s anti-corruption stance.
Next came “The Unelected Banker: Ahsan Mansur’s Gamble with Bangladesh’s Economy” (February 18, 2025), directly challenging Dr. Mansur’s credibility and questioning his qualifications and decision-making as the central bank governor. And the last, “The Missing Transparency in Bangladesh’s Financial Crusade” (March 13, 2025), continues this line of criticism, arguing that the financial strategies under the interim government lack proper oversight and disproportionately benefit certain individuals rather than ensuring broad economic stability.
In this report, the author even goes on to mention the meeting of Dr. Mansur with the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group. The article, published just three days before the meeting, states, “On March 17th, Ahsan Mansur will speak before the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on corruption to ask for the UK’s support in recovering money siphoned abroad. Perhaps the members of the group will also ask about the source of Mansur’s family’s wealth if questions and allegations of corruption within Bangladesh are to be duly resolved.”
As Dismislab was wrapping up this month-long investigation on IPD’s ghost authors, The Guardian reported its own findings about how British MPs were concerned that they “may have been targets of ‘disinformation’ over the Bangladesh inquiry.”
The report said, “Now MPs fear that Britain’s efforts to assist Bangladesh could be further clouded by an apparent smear campaign against Mansur involving news articles by fake journalists.” The Guardian further mentioned that the authors of these articles could not be found outside of IPD, and their profile pictures were stock images.
According to A. Al Mamun, Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism at Rajshahi University, “This is a sustained, well-planned propaganda campaign in favor of the Awami League.” In 2023, an AFP report exposed how fake experts published articles on various local and international websites to spread disinformation ahead of the national election. “At that time, the campaign had a certain form. Now, a different dimension has been added to it. However, I believe it is still being driven from the same place,” he added.
Unreliable IPD articles in Bangladeshi Media, Social Media
Within days of IPD publishing Tim Larkin’s “A House of Glass: The Hypocrisy of Bangladesh’s Interim Government”, several Bangladeshi outlets picked it up. The first Bangla version appeared on BD Digest on February 1. The next day, Khaborer Kagoj reported that the governor’s daughter Mehreen Sarah Mansur was living lavishly in Dubai, questioning the legality of her wealth. Khaborer Kagoj also released a video. Later that morning, Bangladesh First and Barta24 published similar articles. On February 2, Daily Janakantha followed with a report, and SA TV published a video the next day.
On social media, the article was shared from the Facebook page of Bangladesh Students’ League, the recently banned student wing of the Awami League. But it gained traction when Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Sheikh Hasina, shared it on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, just the day after IPD published it. Subsequently, the article was shared multiple times on X (1, 2, 3) and Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4) from various accounts.
Another IPD article that attracted social media attention was written by one Gustav Ellison, titled “The Unelected Banker: Ahsan Mansur’s Gamble with Bangladesh’s Economy.” It was shared by the official Facebook page of Bangladesh Students’ League.
Professor Mamun urged media outlets to be cautious when using foreign newspaper content or their sources. He said, “When taking content from foreign newspapers, our media outlets should communicate with them to verify the source. They should also ensure that there are no errors or misleading information.”
Our very own fake authors and articles
To understand the editorial process and credibility of IPD, Dismislab submitted a fabricated article under the name Sarah Sunehra Zaman on February 16, 2025. The persona of Sarah was created using an AI-generated photo and fake credentials, which included a supposed fellowship at the Center for Genocide Studies—credentials that could be easily verified.
The article, written with the help of ChatGPT, accused the United Nations of bias in its report on the July 2024 uprising. The OHCHR Fact-Finding Report said that “ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina herself had ordered the killing of students” and protesters during the July uprising.
The piece was intentionally crafted to include three false claims that had already been debunked by fact-checkers. One claim about “3,000 deaths in the aftermath of August 5, 2024,” falsely attributed to The Times, was debunked by Boom Bangladesh in October 2024. A second claim involved the targeted killing of a pregnant female police officer in Sirajganj, which was proven false by Ajker Patrika in August 2024, as no female officers were among the 13 confirmed police fatalities. The third claim, citing The Washington Post, alleged that several army officers had been dismissed for defying the interim government, which Dismislab had debunked in October 2024.
The article also included conspiracy theories, such as the claim that the July uprising, despite being portrayed as an organic movement, was “bolstered by foreign-backed NGOs, media networks, and opposition groups seeking to destabilize Bangladesh’s political order.”
The report, originally titled “The United Nations and the politics of conflict reporting” during submission, was altered by IPD editors to “Does the United Nations Have a Bias Problem?” and published on February 24, 2025. The article was released without verifying the false information or the background of the fabricated author, Sarah Sunehra Zaman. The submission process required only filling out a Google form and emailing the article to the editor.
Online news portal BDReports24 republished this fake article on 26 February, and it was later removed by the portal.
On March 24, in a formal response to Dismislab’s question about misinformation in their articles, Lyman said, “Any news website will occasionally run articles that can contain factually incorrect information, which unfortunately happens. Those issues can be easily fixed.”
However, the case was different with another fake article that Dismislab submitted to IPD on March 6. The author of this article was also fake, named Najib Khan, with a photo taken from Freepik and false credentials. This piece painted a positive picture of the newly emerged political party, the National Citizen Party (NCP), led by the students in the uprising and also contained misinformation. This article has not been published.
When emailed for a follow-up, the editor apologized to the fake writer Khan that he had a hectic schedule because one of his family members was “recovering from an assault.” “I read and edit every submission that comes in; I try to be meticulous,” he added.
