Meta banned 4,308 Facebook posts in Bangladesh in 2023 for violating local laws. Apart from this, 14 profiles (accounts) were also banned at the same time. Meta took this step in view of the objection of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, the world's top social media company, publishes its transparency report twice a year. Bangladesh-related information has been obtained from this transparency report.

During the previous Awami League government, Meta banned 5,878 items for violating Bangladesh laws in 2023. Of these, 4 thousand 308 Facebook posts and 14 Facebook profiles. Among these, more than 3,300 items were banned in the last six months. This includes 2 thousand 49 Facebook posts and 4 profiles.

Last year, the Bangladesh government made 2,473 requests for user data to Meta. According to the report, the Bangladesh government's request to Meta has seen a steady increase since the second half of 2021 (July-December).

According to Meta's latest transparency report, Bangladesh government made 1,485 requests to Meta for user data from July to December 2023. Among them, 1 thousand 433 were requested in legal process and 52 were requested on urgent basis. Through this, the government has sought information

about 2,164 users. Meta has responded in 67.81 percent of the government's requests.

Earlier, the government made 988 requests from January to June 2023. Through this information is sought about 1 thousand 454 users. At this time, more than 67 percent responded meta.

In case of sanctions, Meta takes steps after receiving reports from the governments of various countries. BTRC makes these requests for alleged violations of local laws for gambling and controlled products, content against state security and public order, obscenity, attack on religion and various crimes, META said. These items are banned due to violations of the Digital Security Act, Cyber ​​Security Act and other local laws.

Google has a lot of criticism for removal requests

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has asked the world's top search engine Google for information about the various service users of the platform. According to the organization's transparency report, the government sought data on 85 users in 49 requests to Google in 2023. Google provided 23 percent of the data in the first half of the year and 22 percent in the second half.

 

Bangladesh made 1,391 requests to remove half of them last year. Google says government agencies often request removals for violations of local laws and court orders. Google reviews whether it violates its own guidelines and policies.

In 2023, the government requested Google to move 5,667 sites. Of these, YouTube accounts for 5,489. Other requests include apps, websites.

Google responded to less than half of removal requests in the first and second half of the year. Apart from this, the highest number of 594 requests were made for criticizing the government. Then there are 504 defamation requests.

638,440 videos were removed from Google's video platform service YouTube in 2023. Bangladesh is always in the top 10 countries for video downloads.

In addition, TikTok received 713 requests from the government last year to remove content. The number of candidates was 8 thousand 61. TikTok removed 3 thousand 526. Apart from this, the government requested the removal of 28 TikTok accounts last year. TikTok took action against 13 accounts, according to the company's transparency report.