The High Court directed Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove the personal photos and videos of actress Rafiath Rashid Mithila and director Iftekhar Ahmed Fahmi from online platforms.
The court asked the BTRC to take necessary steps to remove the photos of Stamford University student Rubaiyat Sharmin Rumpa’s dead body.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mustafizur Rahman passed the order on Sunday (Dec 8) after hearing a public interest litigation filed by Barrister Tahsina Tasnim Mridu.
The court also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why the respondent’s failure to control publishing of any person’s information and clear image on online media, news portal and social media would not be declared illegal and beyond legal jurisdiction.
Secretaries to the Home Ministry, Information Ministry, Information and Communication Technology Division and BTRC have been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks.
The petitioner said everyone has a family and social status. News are being published on personal images of celebrities years after years. Personal and obscene photos are being spread on social media.
The writ was filed on Nov 28 to stop these practices.
A couple of photos and doctored bits of video clips of Mithila and Fahmi went viral on social networking media platforms last month.
The body of Rumpa, 22, a second-year English student of Siddheswari branch of the private university, was recovered from an alley of the area on Wednesday (Dec 4) night.
The photos of Rumpa’s dead body were also spread on social media.