Process of Shutting Down Unregistered Online News Portals Postponed

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has again suspended the process of shutting down unregistered online news portals within an hour and a half of the start of the process. The process has been postponed on the instructions of Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar.

The minister told the media on Tuesday (September 28) night. BTRC officials said that the list was not received from the Ministry of Information and it was suspended. Earlier, the BTRC shut down many first-line registered online news portals in a bid to implement the High Court's directive to close unregistered news portals.

Once in 2019, BTRC shut down many websites, including blogs, while trying to shut down porn sites. Later they were reopened.

In this regard, Mustafa Jabbar told the media that the process of closing down unregistered news portals has been postponed. After receiving the list from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the unregistered sites will be shut down accordingly.

Mustafa Jabbar said the BTRC had started the process of shutting down the online news portals with the list. There are several errors in that list. As a result, the process of closing unregistered news portals has been suspended for the time being.

A BTRC official said a list of registered news websites was sought from the Information Ministry. But they did not give any. 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 Mohammad Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Mohammad 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 Mohammad Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Mohammad Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after hearing a writ petition.