The Parliamentary Committee on Ministry of Culture wanted to know about the steps taken to control the dissemination of anti-social, obscene and anti-state ‘content’ on social media. The committee has recommended the Ministry of Culture to issue an urgent letter to the Ministry of Information, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Copyright Office to inform them. This recommendation was made in the meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Tuesday, according to a press release of the Parliament Secretariat.
Sources of the meeting said that in the meeting held on November 27, there was a discussion on social media, especially ‘Likee’ app. The reply of the Ministry of Culture about controlling it was not to the liking of the Parliamentary Committee. Committee president Simin Hossain suggested that the relevant ministries strengthen surveillance and exercise legal powers and present the logical views of the Ministry of Information, BTRC and Copyright Office in the next meeting.
In today’s meeting, the Ministry of Culture said that a letter was written to the Ministry of Information, BTRC and Copyright Office on December 15 last year to inform about the steps taken to control the dissemination of anti-social, obscene or anti-state ‘content’ on social media. His reply has not yet been received. Later, the committee recommended writing another letter in this regard.
After the meeting, a circular from the parliament secretariat said, the committee recommended taking appropriate steps to bring Bangladesh Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh Tourism Corporation under the purview of the Ministry of Culture. Apart from this, it has been recommended to include the annual training module of the respective ministries through the cabinet department for special training on Bengali language proficiency, Bengali spelling and usage for public servants at all levels.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Culture Ministry Simin Hossain presided over the meeting while the committee members: State Minister for Culture KM Khalid, Kazi Keramat Ali, Asim Kumar Ukil and Subarna Mustafa participated in the meeting.