In this first-person “as-told-to” article published in the Spring 2020 “Truth” issue of University of Toronto Magazine, Tahmid Khan, a recent U of T graduate, offers a harrowing account of how he was held hostage overnight at a café in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and then wrongly imprisoned. Khan was arrested because of an image posted to social media that some people mistakenly thought showed him to be one of the hostage-takers. As Khan explains, he found it difficult to convince people of the truth–that he was a victim, and not a suspect–when they had already come to their own conclusions. “On social media, people called me a terrorist. Some TV commentators lied, saying they had damning information about me. Why did people say these unfounded things?” In an era of rampant disinformation, Khan’s article serves as a reminder that lies can have life-or-death consequences, that social media can be a powerful source of disinformation, and that the truth is always worth pursuing.
From the Judges
The vivid prose is arresting; you can't stop reading this feature. High marks for the piece being done entirely in house, too.
