The government has finalised the drafts of the Media Employees Act and the Broadcast Act, which aim to “safeguard journalists”, says Information Minister Hasan Mahmud.
“The draft laws have been forwarded to the law ministry for vetting. We hope the ministry will give its opinion soon following which it will be tabled in parliament,” he said on Tuesday (Apr 23).
Hasan was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of Broadcast Journalists Center at his office in Dhaka.
The minister said that if the proposed acts are not presented in the Parliament’s second session, which begins on Wednesday (Apr 23), then these will placed in the next session.
Speaking of revenue from advertisement on online platforms, Hasan said, “Many ads (from Bangladesh) are run on YouTube, Facebook and Google.
“No revenue comes from it,” said the minister before adding initiative has been taken to bring these advertisements under tax net.
In a reference to impose tax on online platforms, Hasan said that they have discussed with the people concerned “to bring YouTube, Facebook and Google under discipline.”
“Decision will be made after discussing the matter with Information communications technology minister and National Board of Revenue
Citing Facebook and YouTube require registration in India, the minister said that the move on tax has been taken “to control the flow of advertisement and earn revenue”.
On airing foreign TV channels in Bangladesh, Hasan said, “Bangladeshi channels pay Tk 50 million as downlink fee whereas foreign channels give us only Tk 500,000.
“Rise in downlink fee for foreign channels [to air in Bangladesh] is very logical,” he said adding measures would be taken through discussion.