Around 10k entrepreneurs without income after Meta removes Victoria e-commerce forum
Social media platform Meta removed the "Victoria E-Commerce Forum" on 26 July, leaving around 10,000 entrepreneurs without an income.
The forum, based from Cumilla, was opened during the Covid-19 pandemic with the aim to help generate income for struggling students, among others.
At least 10,000 small entrepreneurs benefited through the group consisting around 1.80 lakh members.
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According to the entrepreneurs, Victoria e-commerce was an active forum which organised regular training sessions involving members of the group. Since its removal, some of them had to close down their businesses altogether.
Farzana Sultana, an entrepreneur of the e-commerce group, said, "We had many facilities in the group. There was an opportunity to sell products by doing live coverage. We lost our customers.
Most of the group members come from low-income families. They are now completely destitute since losing the group, she added.
Another entrepreneur, Md Imtiaz Sarkar said, "We are in despair. By selling products made from clay through this group, I made a profit of around Tk15,000 per month. I used to run my family with that money. Till 19 September, products worth only Tk7,000 have been sold, which is causing a major crunch in my earnings."
Kazi Apan Tibrani, founder of Victoria E-Commerce Forum said, "I can't bring myself to look at the faces of these young people. They are in distress. They want the group back. We urge the Meta authorities to allow us to resume operations of the group."
