Bangladesh
Unregistered News Portals BTRC suspends process of blocking unregistered news portals
Dhaka, September 29: The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has again suspended the process of blocking unregistered news portals within an hour and a half of the starting it. The process was suspended on the instructions of Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
BTRC officials said on Tuesday (September 28) that the work was postponed due to lack of information from the ministry. Earlier, the BTRC shut down many top-tier registered online news portals in a bid to implement the High Court's directive to block unregistered news portals. The government news agency (BSS) was not left out of the list.
Once in 2019, BTRC shut down many websites, including blogs, while blocking porn sites. Later they were unblocked.
Asked about this, Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, "Let's find out what the BTRC is doing." Shortly after the minister's statement, the blocked news portals were unblocked. The minister later said the process of blocking unregistered news portals has been postponed. After receiving the list from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the unregistered sites will be blocked accordingly.
Mustafa Jabbar said the BTRC had started the process of blocking the news portals with the list. There are several errors in that list. As a result, the process has been suspended for the time being.
A BTRC official said the Ministry of Information was asked for a list of registered news websites. But they did not provide. However, no one from the Ministry of Information agreed to comment on the matter.
On the other hand, the BTRC has been given two more weeks to comply with the High Court's order to shut down all unregistered online news portals in the country. The court has fixed October 25 for hearing and order in this regard.
A virtual bench of the High Court comprising Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order on Tuesday.
Earlier on September 14, the High Court ordered the closure of unregistered online news portals within seven days. The High Court bench comprising Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after hearing a writ petition.
