Facebook, YouTube do not respond to 60% of govt queries: Jabbar
He said a new law is underway to address these issues
In the name of freedom of speech, social networking companies like Facebook and YouTube do not provide information against 60% of the requests made by the government of Bangladesh, Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar has said.
"Companies like Facebook and YouTube have all of our information but we cannot take any action against them," he told a programme on the tendency of cybercrime in Bangladesh, marking the 6th anniversary of the Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation (CCAF) on Friday.
He said the situation has improved after 2018.
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"Before 2018, we did not have any communication with the social networking companies and they only addressed about 1% of our complaints. Now, it has increased to 35-40%," Jabbar added.
He said the government now can get in touch with the social media companies every week.
But he complained that there still are many gaps in the communication that needs to be addressed.
"We only get help from them [Facebook, YouTube] regarding serious propaganda against the state or specific people and sometimes regarding terrorism. But they do not want to help us if citizens are engaged in spreading militancy or misinformation, terming those free speech," the minister said.
He added that a draft law has already been prepared as the Digital Security Act is not sufficient to address these issues.
Noting that not even 1% of the parents use parental control services of digital devices, Jabbar said families need to further emphasise raising awareness of cybercrime.
He also added that as cybercrime is on the rise, the use of technology needs to be increased in crime detection in every police station across the country.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Forensic) of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Mostofa Kamal Rashed said the government is formulating cyber monitoring cells in every district to ensure cybersecurity.
Highlighting the findings of a research report, Monira Nazmi Jahan, convener of the CCAF Research Cell, said that account hacking is one of the prevailing cybercrimes in the country, with a rate of 28.31%.
Spreading misinformation using social media is in the second position with a rate of 16.31% and threatening through online platforms is in the third position, she added.
