There have been complaints that US-based Facebook and Russia-based messaging app Telegram cannot be used in mobile data in different parts of Dhaka since Friday. Many are reporting that people are having problems using Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp. Of course, some people can send text and pictures on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp using mobile internet. But the apps are being used on broadband internet. However, complaints of slow speed have been received. Even, the live videos which are not running on mobile are not playing properly. New videos are also coming late on the timeline.
Not being able to run Facebook on mobile internet, many customers are using social media on broadband internet. Many have also given status on Facebook about the problem. At the same time, many online traders have raised the slogan of ‘I want continuous internet, I want to live by doing business’ in red and black banners. They fear the shutdown of internet, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube again.
Through visiting the site called ‘Down Detector’ to find out if there is a problem with the Facebook server, it is known that, no one has reported any technical problem of Facebook anywhere at the moment. In addition, Meta states that they are yet to receive any issues or complaints with their products on their own web ‘Meta Status’.
As 90% of the country’s people connected through digital means are connected to mobile internet, they are now vocal in demanding that no engineering or platforms be shut down without notice. In the status itself, many traders are asking, ‘Will we stop Facebook ads’?
On the condition of anonymity, the operators said that Facebook, Messenger and Telegram have been closed since 12 o’clock on the instructions of the regulatory body.
However, Grameenphone, the country’s largest mobile operator said, “Considering the current situation, the authorities have stopped the use of some applications on mobile internet. We are in constant touch with the authorities in this regard.”
In such a situation, Mohiuddin Ahmed, the president of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association- MMPCA, has asked the question, what provision of the government, BTRC, NTMC or the Telecommunication Regulation Act 2001, or what constitutional right do they stop the internet? Off social media?
Those concerned say that internet speed was normal in the country from last Thursday night. There are more than 12 crore mobile internet users in the country. If Facebook is blocked on mobile data, VPN usage will increase and it will affect internet speed.
Attempts to contact the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile operators to find out whether Facebook has been shut down, none of them agreed to comment.
On July 18, around 9 pm, the Internet was shut down across the country due to the quota reform movement. Social media was closed since then. Broadband was activated on July 23 and mobile internet on July 28, but four platforms on Meta and TikTok were closed. But YouTube was on at that time.
