Bangladesh government unblocks Facebook

Users in Bangladesh will now be able to access Facebook after it was blocked for 22 days.

State Minister for Telecommunications Tarana Halim told the media on Thursday that the government had cleared the decision to unblock the social media site.

But, a decision on other blocked social media apps, like Viber and WhatsApp, will be taken later, she told the media.

The minister called the telecoms regulator’s chief during the media briefing and told him to open access to Facebook.

On Nov 18, access to Facebook, its Messenger app and some other communication apps were blocked on the grounds of national security following the killings of two foreigners and three policemen at check posts.

Tarana on Thursday said Facebook was unblocked, as “the level of the security threat has dropped”.

“I hope we will be able to keep the threat under control if we control the other apps,” she said.

The minister said the other apps will be unblocked when “there is no security threat”.

She also thanked the young Facebookers and the critics for being patient.

Tarana admitted that the Facebook-based entrepreneurs had to suffer ‘some losses’ because of the closure.

“The credit goes to all if we can save a single life by blocking Facebook temporarily,” she said.

She also hoped there will be “no violence” after unblocking the Facebook.