Social Media Perils Embarrass Government

 
The advent of social media has expedited communication and facilitated the spread of information throughout out the world at an unprecedented speed without doubts. At the same time it cannot be denied that some perilous and undesirable things are also happening every now and then because of the too simple ways of posting anything that comes to one's mind on social media. While social media keeps friends, colleagues and relatives connected with each other, simultaneously the misuse of social media causes hazards too.

State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat has said that the authorities concerned would soon shut down all unregistered and unauthorized online news portals and internet protocol (IP) television channels because allegations have come up that these sources are responsible for the spread of misinformation and malicious content among people. Even it has been noticed that anti-liberation groups run a few pages on social media on which they propagate their extremist views and radical thoughts which derail plain-minded youngsters.

The Bangladesh government has acquired a broad range of socio-economic advancement during last fifteen years. Advanced technologies like smart phones, laptops, tabs, mobile financial services etcetera have reached all corners of the country which have comprehensively speeded up and simplified people's lifestyle, professional activities, trade, business communication, transactions and so on. However, there are certain quarters who are jealous of the government's successful breakthroughs. They resort to social media to disgrace the ruling authorities and to tarnish the government's achievements.

It is often seen that higher officials, celebrities, prominent citizens, women, children and dignitaries from different backgrounds are trolled by some immoral people on social media which defames their image. Visionary plans to tackle cyber crimes and to resist the abuse of social networking sites should be innovated to deal with such vices which embarrass the government. It may be recalled that following the cyber heist of Bangladesh Bank in February 2016, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman who is now acting BNP Chairman blamed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's family members for the cyber attack on the central bank through social media.

Very recently scams and corruption by a few higher government officials including former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed, former chief of staff of Bangladesh Army General (Retd) Aziz Ahmed and terminated National Board of Revenue (NBR) Member Matiur Rahman have become exposed through mass media. Government agencies are investigating their illegally amassed wealth and some of their assets and bank accounts have been seized too. But it should be remembered that an entire organization or a whole law and order force cannot be blamed for the misdeeds of just one or two officials.

Some immoral netizens are launching attacks on the above individuals on social media incessantly with offensive posts, objectionable photographs and caricatures. Media outlets should also be cautious about carrying out their duty sensibly and should abstain from unethical journalism. The intelligence departments of the government, the law enforcement agencies and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) should crack down hard on the people who are trying to malign the government by means of spreading malicious and fabricated content on social media.

Posts on Russell Viper have gone viral on social media which has scared everyone but there is hardly any social media approach as to how to tackle the spread of this snake or what to do if this snake bites anyone. Social media should not be used for intimidating people. Rather conscious and responsible netizens should come up with solutions to crisis when they log on to social networking sites. Even Hajj pilgrimage and the picture of Holy Kaaba Sharif are also being used on social media for vile purposes.

One thing is quite surprising that nobody talks about financial perpetrators on social media. Banks and financial institutions have been rampaged, such reports hit news headlines almost every week but social media addresses this issue with almost no highlight. The Asian Age published a broad number of articles and reports on the corruption, anarchy and irregularities in the country's banking and financial sectors and the newspaper had to face trouble for this too.

It may be mentioned that The Asian Age published a report on the front page on 26 February 2017 titled, "Tk 30, 000 crore vanishing trick: 60% of defaulted loans from public banks written off." Taking this report into cognizance, the High Court ordered Bangladesh Bank to furnish full facts and figures related to the persons and amounts with references to defaulted loans up to 31 December 2016.

One of the ringleaders of financial crooks in Bangladesh declared to have an asset volume of 67 billion dollars but no probe was carried out to look into his irrational claim. Political leaders, senior government officials, lawmakers, academic scholars and journalists should have the guts to speak the truth and raise their voices against graft and anomalies. Otherwise Bangladesh's economy may get paralyzed and state mechanism may run into severe impediments.

Former Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder said that surveillance on the use of social media in Bangladesh is very poor. Even there are no specific regulations in which way social media should be used, Ali Imam Majumder further said.

Bangladesh Bank's former Governor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, "Teenagers are often seen posting whatever they like on social media. Guardians have a big role to play to this end. At the same time, the duty of cyber security authorities is also very important to prevent cyber crimes through the malevolent use of social networking sites."

Eminent legal expert Dr. Shah Deen Malik said, "The law and order forces, in particular, the intelligence agencies should keep sharp eyes on social media to make sure that anti-state or antisocial things are not being disseminated."

Secretary of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik Samaj (Shujan) Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar said, "People's freedom of expression should never be suppressed. Rather the authorities concerned should make the best of their efforts so that corruption, frauds, financial rackets, bribery and other evil things can be obliterated."

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said, "It is very easy to comprehend that people will mock fun at the government if corrupt officials or financial fraudsters escape the country before actions can be taken against them. The government's stance against corruption, irregularities and nepotism should be very firm so that nobody can laugh at the ruling authorities."

Esteemed lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, "Cyber crimes are global threats in the present world. Social media is used by some unscrupulous people to spread fake rumours in all countries. The proper and neutral execution of cyber rules can halt these malpractices."

Some ruling party parliamentarians have stated that a section of bureaucrats have become much wealthier than leading business tycoons in mysterious ways. Reliable sources have informed that highly expensive assets in the posh areas of capital Dhaka city are owned by some bureaucrats for the most part. The same group of bureaucrats are at the back of the thugs who plunder banks and siphon away money from Bangladesh to foreign countries.

Moreover, it should be noted that just taking a picture with someone does not make it a big deal. For example branded drug dealer Papia once took a photograph with legendary Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed but just showing Tofail Ahmed with a squalid person does not mean that Tofail Ahmed himself is a bad guy. So, the sick exercise of smearing people with pictures posted on social media must be stopped. The government should crack down hard on this nuisance.