Decision on blocking Facebook for six hours yet to be finalised

The government has not yet taken any decision to block Facebook for six hours from every midnight.

The Post and Telecommunication Division issued a statement on the planned outage of Facebook reported in the media on Monday and said: “It is not true. No final decision has yet been taken.”

The division issued a letter to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in the morning seeking its opinion over a proposal to block the popular social networking site for six hours from midnight every day.

They moved to BTRC following a letter from the cabinet secretary, said Post and Telecommunication Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder.

The news triggered discussions and criticisms from netizens.

The telecommunication division has asked people not to get confused.

BTRC representative Md Sarwar Alam said BTRC would soon respond to the letter stating its opinion over the proposal.

In a letter forwarded to the telecom ministry, the Cabinet Division said ‘addiction’ for Facebook was 'affecting the students' and 'undermining the youth's capacity for work.'

Telecoms Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder told bdnews24.com that they have sought opinions from Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.

"The proposal came up during the deputy commissioners' conference last year. Pointing to its adverse effect on students and youth, a proposal to block Facebook from midnight to morning was floated. The Cabinet Division's Mar 27 letter is based on that," he said.

Sikder said a decision will be taken once the BTRC's opinion was available.

BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said he was aware of the matter, but they were yet to receive any communication from the telecom ministry.

He said they would look into the matter, after receiving the ministry's letter.

The recent incidents of question papers of public exams being leaked on the social media on the night before the tests have left the government in a tight spot.

Extremist and militant outfits have been using the social media to recruit and radicalise people, besides using it for clandestine, underground communication.

In November 2015, access to Facebook, its messenger app and some other communication apps were blocked for 22 days on grounds of national security following machete attacks on bloggers and online activists and the killings of two foreigners.

An official of the telecom ministry said they have to take into account booming e-commerce that depends on Facebook as a marketing tool.