State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said that disinformation and false information have put people at digital risk around the world. Bangladesh and the European Union will work together to prevent disinformation and false information.
The Minister of State conveyed the matter while briefing after a courtesy meeting at the Secretariat with Whiteley, the Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh on Sunday, February 18.
The State Minister said, ‘Even in the European Union, misinformation and false information around the world have put people at digital risk. These misinformation and false information are being created and propagated using technology. Disinformation, false information and misinformation are among the things that will put people at greatest risk in the coming days. This is a reality all over the world. At that place, the ambassador talked about how Bangladesh and the European Union can cooperate. The European Union’s support, cooperation and partnership were also discussed regarding Bangladesh. There was also talk about how to identify misinformation and false information through an inclusive system.’
What kind of cooperation will the European Union provide? In response to questions from journalists, the state minister said, ‘There will be exchange of ideas, technical cooperation.’ Stating that there was a discussion with the EU ambassador about the journalists being at risk due to various conflicts around the world, the state minister said that there was a discussion with the EU ambassador about the safety and freedom of journalists in the global context. The EU ambassador talked about various challenges in Europe. We talked with him about where we can improve more in our country, where we have scopes.
He said, ‘Professional journalists say that chaos has entered the media while liberalizing the expansion of the media happens. The government wants a healthy environment in journalism, in the media space, at the political sphere—everywhere. Democracy also means rule of law. Democracy means freedom of everything and rule of law means I can’t do anything. A fine balance of the two is very important. We certainly want to prevent disinformation, but in no way, after curtailing the freedom of expression and the unfettered freedom of the media. We have to do both together. We are morally agreed on this in the country and abroad. There have been discussions with the EU ambassador about finding a way forward together.’