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Published : 26 Jun 2018, 08:25 PM
The government has ensured freedom of speech and media, Hasanul Haq Inu said in an interview with BBC Bangla on Monday.
As he said the government was being careful so that the proposed Digital Security Act does not hinder the freedom of media, the BBC Bangla asked him about blocking of the websites of bdnews24.com and thedailystar.net.
“We are asking the BTRC why it had done so. My ministry had not issued such instructions,” Inu clarified.
The BTRC did not consult the ministry before instructing the operators to take down the news websites, he said in response to another question.
“After all, it’s my job to look into the issue and I am doing it. We are investigating why such a problem occurred,” the minister said.
He said they were “not shutting down anything going by the law”. “Some small accidents or problems were created at times, but these are not part of our government’s policy.”
The government is attaching importance to the concerns of the media, according to the information minister.
“We are making the broadcast act along with the Digital Security Act. We will also form a broadcast commission. The electronic media like TV, radio and online newspapers will not face any problems once the broadcast act and commission are there,” he said.
He assured the journalists of government support to work independently.
The BTRC had ordered mobile phone and international internet gateway operators to block both English and Bangla websites of bdnews24.com in two separate notices on June 18.
The telecom regulators did not explain the reason for the shutdown order, but its acting chief Jahurul Haque later said the blocking was dictated by “government high-ups”.
The BTRC later ordered the operators to unblock the sites.
Earlier, for 10 days from June 2, mobile phone operator Robi blocked bdnews24.com’s Bangla website.
A spokesman for Robi vehemently denied the allegation, but his statement was at odds with the emails sent by his company.
In the emails, Robi explained it as an instruction from government agencies, but none of the agencies acknowledged the telecom operator’s assertion.
The Daily Star said its website was blocked for 18 hours on June 2 after similar instruction from the BTRC to the operators.
