Bangladesh seeks information about 371 Facebook accounts

The government’s requests to Facebook for users’ information along with blocking content rose by 153 per cent year-on-year in the January-June period this year with the authorities from the country placing requests to get 371 users’ information.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, as the designated body to execute such requests in favour of all the government agencies, requested Facebook and other social media sites following instructions from the law enforcing agencies and other government bodies.

According to Global Government Requests Report released by Facebook on Thursday for the first half  of the year, the Bangladesh government placed 241 requests to Facebook to acquire data on 371 users.

Of the requests, 142 requests were related to the legal process and 99 were emergency requests.

Facebook provided data to the government against 57 per cent legal requests while it provided data to the government against 25 per cent emergency requests.

In the same period last year, the government sought information on 123 users or accounts-related data by making 95 requests to Facebook.

Of the requests, Facebook provided data to the government against 20 per cent legal requests while it provided data to the government against 48 per cent emergency requests.

In the July-December period last year, the authorities of the country placed 179 requests to Facebook, seeking information on 298 users or accounts.

Against the requests, Facebook provided data in 45 per cent of the cases.

‘Facebook responds to government requests for data in accordance with applicable law and our terms of service,’ Facebook in its report said.

‘Each and every request we receive is carefully reviewed for legal sufficiency and we may reject or require greater specificity on requests that appear overly broad or vague,’ the report added.

Besides making requests to the social media sites, the government gave instructions for installing a state-of-the-art technological solution to block content from viewing within the country.

Blocking any website without giving a reason has become a common phenomenon in the country in the recent years.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net