The government has moved to adopt a content filtering system to prevent rumours spreading through social media platforms, in particular, Facebook, says ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
The Post and Telecommunication Division has already purchased the necessary hardware and software under the ‘Cyber Security and Monitoring’ project.
The government planned to implement the project before the next parliamentary election, due by the end of this year, sources said.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, “Taken in 2013, implementation of the project has been delayed. It was expedited recently and we hope to introduce it by the next 3 to 4 months.”
The government, in particular, will filter the contents on Facebook.
“Bangladesh has no content filtering system in Facebook, which follows the community standard complying with the US laws. So, we can only request and Facebook acts according to its standard,” Jabbar said.
The government informed Facebook about the differences between the standards of Bangladesh and the US as well as the recent incidents of spreading rumours.
Facebook authorities have taken the matter sincerely and are maintaining a close communication with Bangladesh.
“Facebook now promptly responds to most of our requests. Hopefully, they will cooperate in all areas,” said the minister.
On Thursday (Aug 9), Jabbar had a meeting with a top Facebook official, where he forwarded the government’s requests and briefed on the content filtering project.
The minister, however, declined to disclose the details of the meeting. “The official expressed consent to our plan and Facebook will take it positively.”
He, however, claimed that the move would not hamper the freedom of expression.
Previously the government sat with the Facebook authorities twice with the first meeting at the February during the Mobile Congress in Barcelona and later when a Facebook delegation visited Dhaka.