(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Information Minister Abu Sayeed, RSF protested the ban imposed on mobile phone operator GrameenPhone, forbidding the company from providing news from private newspapers to mobile phones. RSF asked the minister to rescind his decision and allow the phone operators to send news from independent media. “This decision, which deprives […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Information Minister Abu Sayeed, RSF protested the ban imposed on mobile phone operator GrameenPhone, forbidding the company from providing news from private newspapers to mobile phones. RSF asked the minister to rescind his decision and allow the phone operators to send news from independent media. “This decision, which deprives thousands of Bangladeshis of news, is a clear violation of the free flow of information,” said Robert Ménard, RSF secretary-general. “Just three months before the general elections, this new act of censorship does not bode well for the intentions of the prime minister’s party concerning information pluralism,” added Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 16 June 2001, the government ordered GrameenPhone, the largest mobile phone operator, with 300,000 subscribers, to stop sending news stories to mobile phones. For less than one year, subscribers have had twenty-four hour a day access, using the “222” service, to news briefs in English and Bengali from the dailies “Prothom Alo” and “Daily Star”. The authorities justified the ban by saying that “Prothom Alo” does not have permission to broadcast news to mobile phones. This decision follows a series of articles critical of the information minister, published in these newspapers. For example, on 3 June, Motiur Rahman, editor of “Prothom Alo”, accused the minister of “living in lies.” The minister is accused of pressuring and blackmailing the newspaper to force it to support the government.
