73pc women face cyber crime: Tarana

Three out of four women internet users in Bangladesh face cyber crimes but only 23 percent report the abuses to the authorities, said Tarana Halim, state minister for telecom, yesterday.

Bangladesh has a lot to do for ensuring safe internet, Tarana said at the closing session of a two-day workshop on cyber crimes at Le Meridien Hotel in Dhaka.

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, the Telecom Division and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) jointly organised the programme titled “Digital Bangladesh: focusing on cybercrime, safe internet and broadband”.

Currently, there are 6.67 crore internet users in Bangladesh, according to the BTRC. Of them, 84 percent are aged between 18 and 34.

People of these age groups are the strength of the country, Tarana said.

Referring to data from the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), the state minister said, of the total data usage, 21 percent is used in Facebook, 36 percent in Youtube and the rest 43 percent for other purposes.

AMTOB Secretary General TIM Nurul Kabir said the association conducted the study last year using data from all mobile phone operators.

“We are carrying out another study. We hope this will be helpful for the policymakers and the regulators to know about the market scenario,” said Kabir.

Earlier, 94 students from eight schools and colleges took part in a session on “safe surfing for the children”. The students asked questions about safe internet use.

Tarana said on average 49 percent schoolgoing students face cyber bullying.

She urged parents to take this issue into serious consideration and talk to their children.

Experts at different sessions said various government agencies are working on cyber security but there is no coordination among them. BTRC acting chairman Md Ahsan Habib Khan also spoke at the concluding session.