Bangladesh Shuts Down 20,000 Websites In An Aggressive Anti-Pornography War

Bangladesh Shuts Down 20,000 Websites In An Aggressive Anti-Pornography War

Authorities in Bangladesh have blocked almost 20,000 websites as part of an anti-pornography “war”.

Internet service providers in the conservative Muslim-majority nation
took down pornography and gambling websites in the past week under
orders from the telecommunications regulator.

“I want to create a safe and secure internet for all Bangladeshis,
including children. And this is my war against pornography. And this
will be a continuous war,” Mustafa Jabbar, the posts and
telecommunications minister said.

Popular social media apps such as TikTok and Bigo which authorities
believe are misused have also been blocked in the South Asian nation,
Jabbar said. Most of the blocked sites are foreign, but a few local
websites and social media platforms have also faced action under the
crackdown, he added.

The crackdown was launched after Bangladesh’s High Court in November
asked the government to block pornography websites and publication of
obscene materials in electronic forms for six months. The court acted
after a civil society organisation filed a petition stating that a large
number of adult websites contain uncensored and obscene content.

On Sunday, police reprimanded a rising actress and told her to remove
provocative images from her Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages.

“We are monitoring the local Facebook profiles, YouTube channels and
websites also. A few of them were taken down for having obscene content.
We advised a few others not to post anything that goes against our
social norms” Jabbar said.