China, Russia and extremist voices fill void after VOA silenced in Bangladesh

For more than 65 years, Voice of America has played a critical role in promoting stability and democratic values in Bangladesh. VOA’s Bangla Service reached more than 4 million people in the country as well as Bangla-speaking populations in India’s eastern states and across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. At a time when Chinese and Russian state media are aggressively expanding their presence in Bangladesh and there is a growing resurgence of Islamist extremism in the country, America’s voice in the region is more important than ever.

In addition to broadcasting in Bangla, VOA’s Bangla Service also created programming in the Rohingya language, which served as the primary — and often only — reliable source of news for the more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees displaced from Myanmar and now living in world’s largest refugee camp in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. VOA reached 21% of adult refugees there each week through its “Lifeline” radio show, allowing the refugees — many with limited literacy in Bangla or English — to access critical information. Its reporting in Rohingya was especially important since early 2024 when the current wave of at least 150,000 Rohingya began fleeing fighting in Myanmar, the largest exodus since 2017.

VOA helped to train journalists covering the refugee influx in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Here they discuss editing and storytelling techniques in the creation of video reports. (Laurie Moy | USAGM)Before President Donald Trump issued his executive order on March 14, 2025, which effectively began dismantling VOA, the Bangla Service was broadcasting 5.5 hours of audio and video content each week as well as providing daily updates on its websites and social media pages. Its programs were regularly showcased in the primetime newscasts of leading national media outlets. However, since that time, the service has stopped all broadcasts and digital content, creating an information vacuum for millions who depended on VOA’s factual reporting.

Before it stopped broadcasting, VOA’s Bangla Service conducted high-impact interviews with leading Bangladeshi officials, including with interim government head Muhammad Yunus in September 2024. That interview offered audiences direct access to the country’s top decision-maker at a critical political moment following student-led protests, which toppled the previous government. The interview was cited extensively by television networks, print outlets and online platforms throughout the country, shaping public understanding and political discourse.

The service’s reporting has often impacted policy in Bangladesh. In 2024, an in-depth series of reports based on an original public-opinion survey examined key national issues, including public perceptions of the interim government, the upcoming parliamentary elections, and the judicial targeting of ousted leadership. It provided unique, data-driven insights that drew widespread attention from policymakers, journalists, and civil society, and the results were cited more than 300 times by local media. Government officials and politicians across party lines referenced the findings in public statements, acknowledging the survey as a reliable reflection of public opinion.

The Bangla service was also at the forefront of covering major developments in the country, including the student-led mass protests that led to the 2024 change in government and the U.S. response. It published live blogs, videos, interviews and in-depth analysis, even during periods of internet shutdowns when local media access was severely limited. It also reported on a surge of violence against the Hindu community and other religious minorities following the government transition, documenting incidents of mob violence, arson and looting.

The vacuum left by the silencing of VOA’s Bangla Service creates more opportunities for China and Russia to fill the media landscape. With few credible platforms to counter their narratives — or to explain U.S. policies and perspectives — anti-American messaging is gaining deeper roots in the country, and is often amplified by Islamic extremist networks.

In recent years, China has worked aggressively to expand its media presence in Bangladesh. China’s Xinhua News Agency signed a news-sharing agreement in July 2024 with Bangladesh’s state-run news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, while the China Media Group strengthened its Dhaka bureau. After Bangladesh’s 2024 student-lead mass protests, the Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka, Yao Wen, formally proposed joint action with the information ministry to counter “disinformation,” an illustration of how China links media coordination with political development. Yao has also become an active commentator in Bangladeshi media, publishing opinion pieces on sensitive geopolitical issues — including China’s stance on Taiwan.

Russia is also filling the void left by VOA. Russian state outlets created new institutional partnerships in Bangladesh in 2025, including Sputnik’s content-sharing arrangement with Deshkal News and the launch of its SputnikPro journalism training program at major universities. At the same time, the Russian cultural center in Dhaka, Russia House, hosted a roundtable that brought together more than 30 Bangladeshi media organizations, emphasizing the strengthening of ties between Moscow and Dhaka.

The rise of misinformation has led to conspiracy theories spreading unchecked in Bangladesh, including those targeting the credibility of the United States, such as false claims that the U.S. had secured a deal to build a military airbase on St. Martin’s Island or that the U.S. had created a corridor through Bangladesh for weapons transfers to Myanmar rebel groups. The absence of a trusted, fact-based U.S. news source has removed a major counterweight against coordinated propaganda in Bangladesh, and has allowed China and Russia, along with Islamist groups, to disseminate inflammatory narratives with little resistance.