‘Govt to put checks on social media’

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar yesterday said the government will be able to ‘directly interfere’ on social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube after September, to contain rumours on social media.

“No one will be able to publish anything as per their whims on social media,” Jabbar said while addressing a programme organised by Awami League’s publicity affairs committee at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

The government has been keen to stop rumours on social media but failed so far, Jabbar said, adding that Facebook and YouTube are US companies run by US community standards. “We can’t interfere in this regard directly yet,” he said.

“We can’t take any measure instantly when a status update or video is published on social media.” But soon, the government will have the capacity to “interfere” in any website if it wants, which is a big achievement, Jabbar said.

“We see some news outlets spreading rumours and we face trouble in dealing with it. We will be able to stop unauthorised news portals after publishing registration list,” he added.