Minister: Govt will be able to intervene regarding Facebook, YouTube posts

The government will be capable of directly “intervening” in the content of any website from this coming September, Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar has said.

“The state can control any website if it wants to,” the minister said, while addressing an event organized by Awami League’s publicity wing at Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, on Saturday.

He added: “From September, we hope to intervene regarding any content uploaded on social media platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube,” he said.

Jabbar said that it is a major achievement that the government has acquired the ability to control any website. “We gained this power right before winning the election.”

The minister said the crisis that the government faces is it cannot take immediate steps to control posts and videos posted on social media.

“The government cannot intervene – yet – regarding content uploaded on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, because they have to comply with the ‘American Community Standard,'” he said.

“But, the good news is, we hope to overcome this issue in September this year,” Jabbar said. “Then, the government will have the power to intervene directly, so that anything that goes up on social media platforms will be monitored, and if necessary, taken down.”

He also praised law enforcement’s role in monitoring social media content.