Information Minister Hasan Mahmud vows action against ‘shady’ news websites

Hasan Mahmud was speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, on his first day in office on Tuesday.

“After my inauguration yesterday, journalists asked me questions about shady news sites that have been popping up online. They release fake news and sometimes defame individuals.”

Online news sites have become increasingly popular on social media after a recent surge in internet users in Bangladesh.

Readers of bdnews24.com, the first online news portal in Bangladesh, fell prey to a fraudulent Facebook page and a website, bdsnews24.com that mimicked the original site. Many readers missed spotting the extra ‘s’ in the web address and were confused by the content.

Telecoms and copyright authorities were issued several letters from bdnews24.com but no action followed. Intelligence agencies were also contacted by bdnews24.com in an effort to close down ‘bdsnews24.com’. It was Facebook which later shut down the page of bdsnews24.com.

“We will deal with these things (sites) with everyone’s help,” Mahmud told journalists.

When asked about the most crucial challenge facing him in the ministry, he said, “I’ve always taken my life to be a challenge. I feel every problem can be solved and every work can be done together as a team.”