Court orders investigation into Telegram groups 'spreading pornography'

The directive follows a news report published by the Daily Manabzamin

A Dhaka court has ordered an investigation and prosecution against individuals and groups accused of sharing pornographic content on the messaging app Telegram.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain issued the directive on Sunday after different daily newspapers published reports about “the sale of nude videos of thousands of young women through Telegram channels”.

The court instructed the Deputy Commissioner of the Cyber and Special Crime Division of the Detective Branch to appoint a capable investigation officer and file regular cases based on the findings.

The officer has also been directed to submit progress reports every 15 days.

Alongside, the court has ordered the reporters who published the initial stories to cooperate with investigators and submit their reports by Nov 30.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Rokunuzzaman of the Prosecution Division gave information about the court order.

The order followed a report by the Daily Manabzamin on Saturday, which revealed the alleged sale of explicit videos.

The story quickly spread across other media outlets and was heavily discussed on social media platforms.

The court deemed the issue to be of public importance. It invoked Section 190(1)(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to take action.