Youths do not read newspapers anymore, says Sajeeb Wazed Joy

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy has asked Awami League MPs to be more active on social media as youths do not read newspapers anymore.

He also urged the MPs to fight anti-government campaigns on social media by putting up at least two posts on Facebook every day highlighting different development projects of the government.

He made the call while addressing a workshop titled ‘Role of MPs on Social Media’ at Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi on Sunday.

“We have found through surveys that youths do not read newspapers anymore,” he said adding “However, it is good for us as newspapers mostly contain opinions of the civil society.”

Joy is the ICT affairs advisor to the prime minister and spearheads the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ campaign.

“We have achieved our dream to build ‘Digital Bangladesh’. Around 60 million people of this country currently use the internet. Facebook said its users in Bangladesh were rapidly growing. ”

On a lighter note, Joy said youths were comfortable with the usage of social media, but the seniors are not adaptable to it.

Referring to State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Joy said: “I can never beat him! No one can - when it comes to posting on Facebook in a day,” said Joy laughingly.

“Youths get most of the information from social media. So it is a crucial platform for us.”

The MPs may take help from their personal assistants in putting up good posts, said the leader.

“We are working for the country, and if we keep ourselves updated on social media, then we will have voters from the younger generation as well.”