They want Dr. Yunus for five years, but only to farm ‘likes’ for their pages
For the past few months, the future of Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, has been a subject of debate across political circles, mainstream media, and social platforms. Appointed after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government during a popular uprising in 2024, Dr. Yunus has consistently stated that elections will be held between December 2025 and June 2026. Still, speculation about his tenure has persisted. One slogan in particular gained traction online: “We want Dr. Yunus in power for five years.”
What began as a political message soon appeared in an unexpected context. The slogan started showing up in paid Facebook ads—not from political organizations, but from pages promoting food, cosmetics, clothing, and personal vlogs. These ads used Dr. Yunus’s name and image to attract attention, often accompanied by calls to “like” or “follow” the page. Dismislab found that at least 47 Facebook pages ran 55 such ads between early April and mid-May.
Researchers retrieved the ads from Meta’s Ad Library using Bangla-language keywords, then reviewed the 20 most recent posts on each page to understand their usual activity. Nearly 90% had no political content prior to running the ads.
According to Meta’s policy on social issues, elections, and politics, any ad that seeks to influence public opinion must include a disclaimer identifying the sponsor and the political nature of the content. None of the advertisements reviewed by Dismislab included such disclosures. While some ads were later removed by Meta, most remained active during the investigation and appear to have bypassed the platform’s detection systems.
In a political context where some groups are pushing for elections while others call for reforms before polls take place, messages suggesting an extension of the interim government’s rule are considered political. Experts say that even when such ads are run from business pages, they have undeniable political relevance.
From food pages to vlogs: How the slogan spread
The call to see Dr. Yunus in power for five years began circulating on social media in April 2025 following a Facebook post by Sarjis Alam, a leader of the newly-formed National Citizen Party. The demand surfaced amid speculations about the country’s political future, and it triggered a backlash from different political parties, with several political parties and individuals calling it undemocratic and unrealistic. As the issue went viral on social media, several Facebook pages—identified in this investigation—appeared to capitalize on the public sentiment.
Between May 15 and 17, Dismislab reviewed Meta’s Ad Library using the Bangla keywords “ইউনূস” (Yunus), “ইউনুস” (alternate spelling of Yunus) and “৫ বছর” (5 years) to identify advertisements promoting the message that Dr. Muhammad Yunus should remain in power for five years. The search identified 55 ads posted by 47 different Facebook pages.
A review of each page’s 20 most recent posts, conducted on May 18, showed that nearly 90% had not previously posted any political content. For most, the political slogan appeared to be an exception to their regular activity.
One of the ads was run by a Dhaka-based page called The Tasty Apron, which identifies itself as a restaurant. On May 13 and 14, the page ran two separate ads using the slogan. One of them read: “If you want Dr. Yunus to remain in power for five years, press the option like on the right to stay with us.” A ‘like’ button appeared on the bottom right of the ad. None of the page’s most recent 20 posts, as of May 18, included political content.
Among the few pages with prior political content, Motive Digital and Mr. Ismail ran ads featuring Dr. Yunus that were later removed by Meta. Motive Digital had posted, “Change in leadership brings change in future,” while Mr. Ismail used an image of Dr. Yunus in prayer with the caption: “Development or elections?”
Of the 47 pages, 30 of them (64%) were tied to commercial businesses. These included small enterprises selling food, cosmetics, clothing, health supplements, and seasonal fruit. Eight were personal or vlog-style pages, and two described themselves as media outlets. The remaining pages were categorized as public figures or digital marketing brands.
Some of these business pages promoted specific products or services unrelated to politics. Natural Health BD, for example, sells a product called “Health Plus Tablet,” which it claims helps increase weight and confidence through natural means. Ambzar, a fruit seller page created on May 8, regularly promotes different varieties of mangoes. A May 15 post read: “Tired of middlemen? We have a large stock of authentic mangoes—available now.” Another page, Mayer Dowa Agro, sells quail eggs and shares video content related to poultry farming. None of these pages had previously posted political content.
Farming likes
Both established and newly launched pages used the slogan as a means to increase visibility and farm likes. Across the 47 pages, the average number of likes was 35,161, with 37,483 followers on average.
The page with the highest reach was Khobor24 (with about 343,000 likes), a news and media outlet that regularly posts photo cards and shares links to BartaTimes24 articles in the comments. The smallest page, Premium BD, which sells YouTube Premium subscriptions, had only 11 likes and followers at the time of review.
Admin location data was available for 26 pages. Of these, 24 were managed from Bangladesh. One listed Italy, and one was jointly managed from Bangladesh and the United States.
Dismislab interviewed six page administrators who had run such ads. Four of them said they did not create the ads themselves and had hired vendors to manage page promotions. One page acknowledged creating the ad independently to boost likes and followers. Another confirmed that it hired a digital marketing agency, observed an increase in followers after the campaign, but claimed no prior knowledge of the ad content.
Another admin said, “We didn’t tell the vendor to run this kind of ad. We just asked them to increase our followers, and they did the rest.”
A.M. Faruk, founder and CEO of Yaati Digital, a Dhaka-based digital marketing agency, said: “The main goal of such ad strategies is follower growth. Since page credibility is often judged by follower count, page owners try to increase it by any means.” He added that agencies should advise clients more carefully: “Clients want results, but it’s the agency’s responsibility to manage expectations and warn customers that not all strategies yield the desired outcome.”
An old trick
The use of political slogans and imagery in Facebook ads to drive engagement is not new. Dismislab’s investigation found that similar tactics have been used in previous years, often involving high-profile political and religious figures in Bangladesh and abroad.
Dismislab found other similar ads targeted prominent Bangladeshi politicians. For example, in October 2023—just months before the national election—a page ran an ad urging users to “like on the right” if they wanted Khaleda Zia to win. The ad lacked a disclaimer and was removed by Meta. A review of the page’s activity showed that it had posted only one piece of political content that year: a video reel of a rickshaw-puller criticizing the then Awami League government.
In October 2024, another ad used side-by-side images of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia with the caption: “Like on the right to make Khaleda Zia win.” This page primarily promoted business content, but used political imagery to increase engagement.
In April 2021, a Facebook page named Milton Samadder ran an ad featuring a photo of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former parliamentarian who was convicted of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War and died in prison in 2023. The ad falsely claimed: “I am Sayeedi Shaheb, I’m going to be released next week. I desperately need your vote. Vote on the right.” Meta flagged the ad as political content and later removed it.
The same page had also used images and fabricated quotes attributed to various public figures, including Mamunul Haque, Imran Khan, Mohamed Morsi, Mahathir Mohamad, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a 2024 interview, the page operator admitted that the ads were run for page promotion and were executed through an ad agency.
“These kinds of ads have always existed. Dr. Yunus is currently quite popular in Bangladesh, which is why he’s being used to rapidly gain likes,” said A.M. Faruk, founder and CEO of Yaati Digital.
Meta’s political ad policy and detection gaps
Under Meta’s policy, political, election or social issue-based ads must include a “paid for by” disclaimer that identifies the sponsor and confirms that they’ve completed identity verification. These ads are stored in Meta’s Ad Library, which displays where and to whom they were shown, how long they ran, and how much was spent. Ads that fail to meet these requirements are considered non-compliant and subject to removal.
The ads featuring the message to see Dr. Yunus in power for five years fall within Meta’s definition of political content. They include both direct calls for a political figure to assume leadership and the use of imagery that associates him with state authority. Sayeed Al-Zaman, assistant professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Jahangirnagar University, said, “The individual being promoted and the nature of the promotion both fall under the realm of politics, at least within the current political context of Bangladesh.”
However, none of the 55 ads reviewed by Dismislab—including both active and removed ads—contained the disclaimer required under Meta’s policy. Of these, 43 remained active during the review period, while 12 had been removed by Meta after being flagged as political content without proper disclosure. Seven of the removed ads used the same image of Dr. Yunus shaking hands with citizens following Eid-ul-Fitr prayers earlier this year, suggesting a pattern of image reuse.
Some of these ads had been running for weeks before removal, indicating a delay in detection. For example, Zobaida’s Vlog USA had run three separate ads using the same photo; Meta removed two of them, but one remained active as of mid-May.
Findings suggest that Meta’s enforcement mechanisms continue to struggle in identifying political ads in Bangla, particularly when they originate from non-political pages or use indirect or coded language. A 2023 study by Digitally Right, titled Hits and Misses: An Examination of Meta’s Political Ad Policy Enforcement in Bangladesh, documented similar patterns. The study found that Meta frequently failed to detect political ads lacking the required disclaimers, and that many such ads remained active despite clearly qualifying as political.
Methodology
This investigation was conducted by Dismislab between May 15 and May 18, 2025. Researchers used Meta’s Ad Library to identify Bangla-language Facebook ads referencing Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the slogan calling for him to remain in power for five years. Three Bangla search terms were used: “ইউনূস” (Yunus), “ইউনুস” (alternate spelling of Yunus) and “৫ বছর” (5 years). The search yielded 55 advertisements, run by 47 unique Facebook pages, between early April and mid-May.
For each identified page, researchers collected and reviewed the 20 most recent publicly available posts to assess whether the page had previously posted political content. Pages were then categorized by primary content type—such as business, media, personal vlog, or political figure—based on their recent post history and About sections.
Metadata from the Ad Library, including ad status (active or removed), ad imagery, and Meta’s policy labels, was used to evaluate compliance with Meta’s transparency requirements. Admin location data and page creation dates were also recorded where available.
In addition to the ad review, Dismislab conducted direct outreach to six page administrators to understand motivations behind the ads and advertising strategies used. Statements from administrators were anonymized unless the page name or public statement had already appeared in connection with an ad campaign.
The findings were further contextualized using Meta’s public advertising policies and previously documented enforcement trends.
