The High Court has directed the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take necessary legal action against unregistered online news portals operating in the country and social media pages involved in spreading rumours, false and misleading information.
The court also issued a rule seeking to know why the inaction of the relevant authorities in this regard should not be declared illegal and why necessary action should not be ordered against unregistered online portals and pages spreading rumours.
The High Court bench of Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the order on Tuesday after the preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed in the public interest.
Advocate SM Zulfikar Ali Junu, chairman of the National Lawyers Council and a Supreme Court lawyer, appeared for the petitioner.
The writ petition sought directions to the relevant authorities to take effective measures to prevent the dissemination of rumours, false and misleading information through unregistered online portals and various social media pages.
Following the hearing, the High Court directed the BTRC chairman to take necessary measures and issued the rule against the respondents.