ISPs ordered to unblock 58 websites shut before election

Internet service providers or ISPs have received orders to unblock the 58 websites, including some news portals, a day after they were told block those, according to chief of the ISP Association of Bangladesh.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 Dec 2018, 07:47 PM
Updated : 10 Dec 2018, 07:47 PM

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC denied having issued any such orders.

The regulator has not responded to queries as to who had asked the ISPs to block the websites a few weeks before the parliamentary elections and for what reason.

The International Internet Gateway or IIG operators and the ISPs started implementing the orders on Sunday evening.

Most of the 58 sites could not be accessed from Bangladesh throughout the day on Monday.

Priyo dotcom, Dhaka Times 24, Paribartan, RisingBD, Bangla Mail 71 and other news portals were among the list of shutdowns.

ISPAB General Secretary Md Emdadul Hoque told bdnews24.com on Monday evening that they had received fresh orders to unblock the websites.

“We are unblocking the websites now,” he said.

Asked about the previous instructions on Sunday night, BTRC Acting Chairman Md Jahurul Haque told bdnews24.com: “It is not possible to discuss the matter tonight. We may talk about it tomorrow. But as far as I know, there have been no orders to shut down websites.”

Relevant officials have not remarked on why the decision was made to close these sites 20 days ahead of the election or how these shut downs are being enforced.

The BTRC had previously taken down websites without explanation and made similar remarks about the decision.

On Jun 18 of this year, the BTRC ordered bdnews24.com to be shut down. It was restored a few hours later, but the BTRC acting chairman had not been able to provide a reason for the decision.

The decision had been taken ‘under instructions from senior government figures’, Zahurul Haq had said at the time. Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had expressed his surprise at the comment and said the matter would be investigated.