Minister Matia Chowdhury files GD to shut down fake Facebook fan pages in her name

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury has filed a General Diary (GD) at the Ramna Model Police Station, in Dhaka, alleging that unknown persons are illegally running several fake fan pages on Facebook using her name.

She has also informed the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and urged steps to deactivate them, the ministry said in a media statement on Tuesday.

It said the minister ‘has no Facebook profile or page and she does not intend to open any in future’.

The ministry cited two pages in the statement, but searches revealed at least four fan pages on Facebook.

Three of them identified the Awami League Presidium member as a ‘Politician’ and the other a ‘Government official’.

One of those pages opened using her name was 'Liked' by over 9,100 people until 8:30pm Tuesday.

Another page opened in her name was ‘Liked’ by more than 4,850 people, the third one by over 3,610, and 290 people ‘Liked’ the fourth one.

All these pages used the minister’s photos in profile pictures.

Matia Chowdhury, in her GD, sought measures to shut these fake pages and prevent anyone from opening and running such pages in future.

She has also urged police to take legal steps against the moderators of these pages.

The media statement said several e-mail IDs and fake fan pages opened using Chowdhury’s name on Facebook had also been shut down earlier.