Social media giants don’t listen to us

Facebook and YouTube often do not respond to Bangladesh's requests to remove defamatory content from their platforms, said Posts and Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar yesterday.

"The government is helpless," he told a press briefing at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in the capital.

The BTRC does not have the power and capability to block any content from the platforms.

"So it is unfair to blame the BTRC for not removing these contents," he said, adding that none will be able to control the digital crimes.

Jabbar's comment comes after the High Court on Sunday blasted the BTRC for its failure to stop the spread of defamatory media reports, videos and pictures from online platforms.

"The BTRC can instantly stop defamatory materials from spreading online. But it doesn't -- as if it enjoys them," said the HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah while hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed on August 25.

The writ petition, which was submitted as public interest litigation, sought an HC directive to get the BTRC to take all necessary steps to remove and stop the further spread of materials assassinating individuals' characters from all platforms.

"No country in the world has invented the technology to delete specific social media content. One needs to block Facebook or YouTube in the country to stop people from viewing the specific defamatory material," Jabbar said.

Many women and teenagers have become victims of cyber-bullying, said BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder at the press conference yesterday.

"We advised them to file a general diary with the police and send us the copy. Only then can we start the process from our end. We then contact the social media platforms to remove the materials."

The social media platforms take them down only if the contents fail to meet their community guidelines, he said.

"We cannot do anything beyond this," Sikder said.

In the last year, the BTRC has requested the Facebook authorities to remove 18,836 objectionable links, said Md Nasim Parvez, director-general of the BTRC's systems and services department.

Of them, 4,888 were removed.

The BTRC asked YouTube to take down 431 videos, but only 62 were blocked, he said.

And, the process takes time, according to Sikder. To expedite matters, the BTRC has requested Facebook many times to set up an office in Bangladesh.

"Facebook is yet to do so," Sikder added.