Govt asks BTRC to shut down online platforms of Awami League, affiliates
Instructions have been sent to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to block their websites, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, TikTok, Telegram, and X (formerly Twitter) accounts
The Government of Bangladesh has initiated steps to shut down the online platforms of the Bangladesh Awami League, along with all its affiliated organisations and supporter groups.
Instructions have been sent to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to block their websites, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, TikTok, Telegram, and X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
The National Cyber Security Agency issued the directive to the BTRC yesterday (13 May), a move confirmed to Prothom Alo by Faiz Ahmed Tayeb, special assistant on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology to the chief adviser.
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This comes in the wake of a government notification issued on Monday by the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated bodies until the completion of trials at the International Crimes Tribunal.
The ban includes all forms of publication, media coverage, online and social media campaigning, rallies, public gatherings, and conferences. The measure has been taken under the amended Anti-Terrorism Ordinance.
On the same day, the Election Commission (EC) suspended the Awami League's registration as a political party.
According to sources from the National Cyber Security Agency and BTRC, the government will soon send formal letters to social media companies, citing legal grounds and government decisions, requesting the blocking of accounts linked to the Awami League and its network of organizations.
Faiz Ahmed Tayeb earlier stated that after the notification, the government would use BTRC as a reference to ask social media platforms to block the relevant accounts.
However, he acknowledged the government's limited power in this domain, explaining that while it can block websites within the country, content removal or account suspension on international social media platforms depends on the platforms' own guidelines and internal policies. Governments typically make such requests to tech giants like Meta (Facebook's parent company) and Google, who then review whether the content violates their policies before taking action.
