Newly appointed State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat has said the government plans to establish a framework to ensure accountability for spreading disinformation and rumours.
He said this in response to questions from journalists in the conference room of the ministry at the secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon.
The state minister said that disinformation is being spread using social media.
“We all know that sometimes misinformation is spread on social media using logos of mainstream media,” said Arafat.
“The problem is, in preventing this propaganda, we think that the freedom of expression should not be hampered, the freedom of the media should not be hindered,” said the state minister.
He said that as any issue spreads quickly through social media, and the government has to think and take action in a new way.
Meanwhile, the former information minister, Dr Hasan Mahmud, saw off the officials of the ministry and assured support to the new state minister.