Facebook to be unblocked after removal of ‘sensitive items’: BTRC

Access to social networking site Facebook will be unblocked ‘as early as possible’ for users in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission officials said on Thursday. The authorities, however, could not confirm the date when the site would be unblocked.
‘The networking site will be unblocked as early as possible after the taking offensive and sensitive items off the site,’ the commission chairman, Zia Ahmed, told New Age on Thursday.
Asked how long time it would take to take the ‘sensitive’ items off the site, Zia said, ‘We have contacted the Facebook authorities in the United States and we have agreed to work together so that nothing could be uploaded on the site that hurts anybody.’
‘I think we will be able to solve the problem within a short time,’ he said, quoting Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Facebook, as saying, ‘I would like to learn more about Bangladesh’s norms and values and to work together accordingly to promote the safe use of Facebook in Bangladesh.’
Sullivan in his mail, according to Zia, said, ‘My team is responsible for managing law enforcement relations on Facebook and promoting a safe experience on the site for our users. I can be your main point of contact as we work through and establish detailed processes for removing troubling content in the future.’
The posts and telecoms secretary, Sunil Kanti Bose, said, ‘The BTRC will unblock the site as early as possible after offensive items are taken off by the Facebook authorities.’
The commission officials said Facebook authorities had already removed two ‘anti-Islam’ pages and removed a Facebook account. The authorities are making arrangement to remove another account.
The Bangladesh authorities on May 29 blocked access to Facebook, which have about 8.76 lakh users in Bangladesh.
Facebook was blocked after the arrest of a young man for uploading satiric images of the prime minister, leader of opposition in parliament and others.

Courtesy of NewAge