Zakir Hossain in Dhaka
The interim government of Bangladesh has directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to block the websites and social media platforms of the banned Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League (AL) party and its affiliated organisations, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Faiz Ahmed Taiyab, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunication and IT, told this correspondent that the National Cyber Security Agency issued the directive to BTRC following Monday’s gazette notification that banned all political activities of the party and its wings until the conclusion of their trials at the International Crimes Tribunal.
The Home Ministry’s notification—issued under the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance—bars publications, rallies, online activity, and public meetings by the Awami League and its affiliates across all platforms. On the same day, the Election Commission suspended the Awami League’s registration as a political party.
Sources at the National Cyber Security Agency and BTRC said that formal requests will soon be sent to global platforms like Meta and Google to restrict or take down AL-linked accounts and pages, citing legal grounds.
However, Taiyab noted the government’s limitations: “We cannot directly control platforms like Facebook or YouTube. We can block websites, but for social media, we can only submit takedown requests. These companies assess them based on their policies.” According to Meta’s transparency report, the platform restricted access to 2,940 items in Bangladesh in the first half of 2024 in response to BTRC’s requests during the Awami League’s tenure. Google’s data shows 490 content removal requests from Bangladesh in 2024, covering 5,827 items—with over two-thirds rejected in the first half and nearly half rejected in the second half of the year.