Staff Reporter :
Around 82 per cent of the country’s young militants were radicalized through different social networking sites, a study says.
A police study report based on 250 detainees was presented at the police chiefs’ conference held recently in Dhaka. It revealed that 56 per cent of the militants came from the general education background (Bangla and English medium) while 22 per cent from madrasas.
They mostly communicated among themselves through the social media, the police report said.
The top police officials thought that social media, including Facebook, have become a concern for law enforcers to tackle expansion of terrorism or militancy in the country. The future security enforcement must spend the most on preventing cyber crime through the social media.
Bangladesh police believe that China and South Korea could be role models in this regard as the nations are advanced in fighting cyber crimes.
At the conference, the police chiefs discussed strategies to fight terrorism through social media. They are mulling over the formation of a platform comprising 14 nations across the globe. At present, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and India are working with the Bangladesh Police to prevent militancy in the cyber space.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunication Tarana Halim told newsmen on Thursday that social media is one of the major causes behind the rise of militancy and terrorism.
She said the government is going to table some key proposals, including country-based separate desk, to the Facebook authorities at a meeting scheduled to be held on March 30 in Singapore.
Fahmidul Haque, a Professor of the Mass Communication and Journalism Department at Dhaka University, said surveillance on Facebook means intervention into the personal secrecy and freedom of the people.
Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik said nothing would be needed if the prevailing laws were implemented properly.
According to the police report, analysis on the trend of 250 militants shows 80 per cent of them used apps like Threema and Messenger to communicate each other. Some created separate apps of their own.
Security analyst Ishfaq Ahmed said terrorists are investing in the online sector to control the ‘virtual world’.
Law enforcement agencies should be more active to prevent the militant activities online, he added.
