KUALA LUMPUR – The Bangladeshi government has reportedly restricted access to social media platforms amidst protests against the government’s controversial job quota reforms.
According to Global Eyes News, the restrictions began on August 2, preventing users in Bangladesh from accessing popular social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Mobile internet services in Bangladesh were only restored last Sunday after being out of service for at least 12 days. The initial service disruption occurred on July 17, followed by a total internet blackout on July 18.
Bangladesh’s State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and ICT, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, accused social media platforms, especially Facebook and YouTube, of non-compliance with the country’s laws by allowing “rumours and fake news” to spread.
He claimed that the internet blackout was not a government directive but was caused by protesters targeting data centres in Dhaka’s Mohakhali area and damaging broadband equipment.
However, local media sources reported that the government had ordered the shutdown. The Business Standard, a Bangladeshi daily, noted timeline discrepancies that challenge the sabotage theory. Mobile internet services were disrupted on the night of July 18, prior to the attacks on data centres, which occurred on the afternoon of the same day.
The Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association (BMPCA) has called for an independent inquiry to determine the cause of the blackout.
The social media blackout follows the latest round of protests in the capital, calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation.
The protests are focused on Hasina’s proposal to allocate government job quotas to individuals whose relatives participated in Bangladesh’s liberation movement. – August 3, 2024