BTRC Asked to Take Legal Steps
HC Orders Action Against Rumour Pages
- Action ordered against unregistered online news portals
- Legal steps sought against misinformation-spreading social pages
- HC questions authorities’ inaction through a rule
The High Court has directed the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take necessary legal action against unregistered online news portals and social media pages involved in spreading rumours, false information and misleading content.
The court also issued a rule questioning why the inaction of the relevant authorities in addressing such content should not be declared unlawful and why appropriate action should not be ordered against unregistered online portals and pages spreading rumours and misinformation.
The High Court bench of Justice Rajik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the order on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, following the preliminary hearing of a public-interest writ petition.
Supreme Court advocate S. M. Zulfikar Ali Juno, chairman of the National Lawyers Council and the writ petitioner, represented the petition before the court.
The writ petition sought directions to the relevant authorities to take effective measures to prevent the spread of rumours, false information and misleading content through unregistered online news portals and various social media pages.
Following the hearing, the High Court directed the BTRC chairman to take necessary legal measures against the unregistered portals and social media pages involved in spreading such content.
The court also asked why the relevant authorities’ inaction should not be declared beyond their legal authority and why appropriate measures should not be directed against the unregistered online portals and rumour-spreading pages.
//DBTech/SME/MIST//
