Calls representatives from Facebook and TikTok to discuss the role of the networks in the protests next week
Jul 28. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Bangladesh’s Telecommunications Minister Junaid Ahmed Palak has announced that the government will restore Internet access on Sunday, which has been severely restricted since the outbreak of a wave of protests against the now suspended quota system for civil servants in mid-month. He has called representatives of social networks Facebook and TikTok together next week to discuss the role they have played during the demonstrations.
The protests against the quota system – which gave 30 percent of places to descendants of fighters from Pakistan’s war of independence in a decision critics say was discriminatory – have been the most serious in the country’s recent history. Organisations such as Amnesty International have accused the security forces of practising a policy of repression against the protesters and there is still no official death toll, but national media, citing medical sources, estimate around 200 dead and 20,000 wounded.
In a press conference reported by the TV channel Somoy News, Minister Palak indicated that the population will have access to the Internet again at around 11:00 (mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands time). Since July 23, it should be noted, the connection had been reestablished for diplomatic offices, banks and financial institutions and some residential areas.
However, it is still unknown what will happen to the servers of Facebook and TikTok, the two most used networks in the country, which have remained closed until now. The minister has taken the opportunity to announce that representatives of both platforms have been summoned to the Ministry’s headquarters next Wednesday to give explanations for their passivity when it comes to “preventing the dissemination of violent content.” The Government does not rule out keeping access suspended if it is not satisfied with the meeting.
TWO MORE ORGANIZERS ARRESTED
In the last few hours, the arrest of two other organizers of the student movements that have led the protests has also been announced.
The suspects are Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, who are in the hands of the Bangladesh Police, according to what Junaid Alam Sarkar, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Police Intelligence Division, confirmed to the Bangladeshi branch of the BBC.
Alam and Abdullah are now in the hands of the Metropolitan Police detective squad in the capital Dhaka, bringing the total number of activists still being held for questioning over their role in the protests to five.
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