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DIGITAL BAN IN DIGITAL BANGLADESH?

Bangladesh

Awami League government publicly telling that they making Bangladesh digitalised but actually it’s nothing but a political propaganda.they can say and do  everything for power.if they need to kill some political opponents they can it without any hesitation.but actually they are hypocritic .

It has been a little more than two weeks since the Bangladesh government enforced a ban on Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber for security reasons in order to "save lives". At first, there was a sense of ambivalence towards the ban but with time many have started questioning its effectiveness. 

While there's no doubt that social media is abused by many in this country (even cricketer Nasir Hossain wasn't spared), does it justify a nationwide ban? In a digitalised era where social media has infiltrated the very psyche of netizens, particularly that of young people, a ban on social media is bound to raise questions, and people expect justifications for the ban to be compelling.  

The ban can easily be justified by magnifying the 'cons' of social media, which seems to be the case here. But by the same logic, one could protest the ban by highlighting the virtues that social media brings. Had it not been for Facebook, where the video of Rajon being tortured at the hands of grown adults was released, the teenager's brutal murder would have never gained countrywide attention. The power of social media at that moment lay in the national outcry following Rajon's killing and in the rare moment of unity as the people of the country demanded justice… Rajon's murderers now await their execution. 

Take the popular page on Facebook, Moja Losss?, for example. It played somewhat of a role of a vigilante when the Pahela Boishakh sexual assault happened earlier this year. Moja Losss?, with the help of social media users, tried tirelessly to identify the molesters in photos and was even successful to an extent. Screen grabs of distasteful, misogynistic comments made on Facebook in the aftermath of the incident were captured and shared widely; some of the users (all of whom were men) who wrote those comments disabled their Facebook accounts due to guilt and shame. 

The undeniable power of social media lies in its unparalleled ability to spread a message, whether good or bad, to the multitudes. 

Part of the reasoning behind the ban is to protect girls and women from cyber sexual harassment, and without a doubt, this is a widespread crime that many fail to even acknowledge. But it is also through the cyber space that an increasing number of Bangladeshi girls and women are bringing to the fore their personal experiences of sexual harassment, online or otherwise, inspiring others to be vocal about this issue. 

The day-to-day role that social media plays in our lives is larger than we may realise. Blood donations are solicited on Facebook; fake products and fraudulent companies are exposed on Facebook groups like Desperately Seeking Dhaka; and crowdfunding by charity organisations and volunteers assist the underprivileged. The list goes on.

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