The government has unblocked the social networking sites Twitter, Skype, Imo and Viber.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim told this to the Dhaka Tribune on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said his ministry did not issue any directive to block Twitter, Skype, Imo and Viber. He was talking to journalists at his office.
On Sunday, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) directed to block Twitter, Skype and Imo barely three days into unblocking Facebook.
Sumon Ahmed Sabir, chief strategic officer of Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) operator Fiber@Home, told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday night that the BTRC issued the directive though an email.
“The BTRC instructed us to block Skype, Imo and Twitter alongside Viber and other apps in our network with immediate effect until further instruction.”
The telecom regulatory body also requested frequent monitoring and taking necessary measures if the services change their IP address, port addresses and application signatures, he added.
Fiber@Home provides transmission services to ANS operators (ISP, Cable TV, Telco, etc.), ICX, IGW, IIG and government organisations.
On November 18, the government blocked popular social media platform Facebook and online messaging and calling services WhatsApp and Viber on security grounds.
It re-opened Facebook on December 10.
The temporary ban on the social networking platform came shortly after the Supreme Court rejected review petitions by war criminals SQ Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid on November 18.
Earlier on January 18, the government had blocked Whatsapp and Viber citing security reasons.