M M Jasim :
The Facebook authorities have closed 40 users’ IDs responding to the request of Bangladesh Government as the later requested to close 80 IDs related to the militancy and terrorism.
Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Dr Shahjahan Mahmud revealed the information to the media in the city on Sunday.
“The law enforcing agencies gave the BTRC at least 80 users’ IDs and 30 web pages to close permanently as the users insist the people to involve in militancy. We have sent the list of the agencies to the Facebook authorities to take measures following our request. The Facebook authorities responded us and closed 40 users’ IDs,” the BTRC Chairman said. He also said, Messenger, Line, WhatsApp, Viber, Tango and other apps are now under surveillance by the BTRC. “The BTRC is the technical body. We do not judge the documents uploaded by the users. We just follow the direction of Home and Information Ministries,” he said.
However, experts are of the view that blocking social media or closing Facebook users’ IDs cannot be a solution and technology-based crimes should be tackled with technology. They said that the government could close the Facebook users’ IDs requesting the Facebook authorities. But the criminals have the access to open new IDs in a short time.
The experts laid emphasis on the strengthening of technology capacity to face the problem. Former President of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Shameem Ahsan said, “The users’ have access to create new or use alternative sites to implement their assignment.
“The National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), which has been working under the Home Ministry, needs to be strengthened technologically so that it can be used as a platform for all forces,” Shameem Ahsan said.
IT expert Mostafa Jabber said, “Only technology can tackle technology-based crimes. The government should enhance its technological power,” Jabber said.
On April 30 this year, the Facebook authorities responded to the Bangladesh government’s request to give the users information related to the terrorism for the first time.
The Facebook authorities provided some data related to 16.67 per cent of requests made by the government between July and December 2015, according to its latest Global Government Request Report released on April 26, 2016. As per the report, the Bangladesh government made 12 requests seeking information on 31 Facebook users during the period.
“We respond to valid requests relating to criminal cases. Each and every request we receive is checked for legal sufficiency, and we reject or require greater specificity on requests that are overly broad or vague,” said the report.
The site also restricted four types of content following the government’s request. “We restricted access to pieces of content alleged to have violated local law regarding blasphemy, pursuant to a request from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission,” it added. Earlier, the government made 16 requests seeking information on 37 users in the first half of last year. But the Facebook authorities did not respond to any of the requests.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government moved to block six social apps – Facebook, Messenger, Line, WhatsApp, Viber, and Tango – citing security reasons stemming from its decision to award the death penalty to two Jamaat-e-Islami leaders on November 24 in 2015. The decision came after the country’s Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling to execute the pair for crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation. This is not the first time that social networking sites have been blocked in the country. In 2010, Bangladesh invoked a ‘temporary ban’ on Facebook after satirical images of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) were uploaded and shared.
At the time, the BTRC said the images had hurt religious sentiments of the majority Muslim population. Thousands of demonstrators had also taken to the streets demanding a ban.
