With a significant increase in online violence, cyberbullying, and digital harassment mostly targeted towards women, Bangladesh Police has issued a leaflet on how to report harassment on social media.
In the leaflet, Police Headquarters (PHQ) said a dedicated hotline (+8801730336431) has been set up where victims can find help in taking action against obscene or abusive posts or pictures they receive on their social media timeline, private message inbox, or comments.
PHQ advised victims to take screenshots of the indecent or abusive post or comment, and gather the links to the respective post and the profile of the abuser and report to their nearest police station.
Apart from physically visiting a police station to file a complaint, victims can also forward the evidence and links to an email address – [email protected] – or to the official facebook page of “Cyber Police Centre, CID, Bangladesh Police.”
“This is part of our awareness program to decrease cyber harassment. We want to keep people conscious about crimes, offences, and their remedies,” Police Headquarters’ Assistant Inspector General (AIG-media) Md Sohel Rana said while talking to Dhaka Tribune regarding the initiative.
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The advisory also said victims can block abusers on social media if they feel necessary.
Bangladeshi national cricketer and ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan became the latest victim of cyberbullying in the country, after some Facebook users posted offensive and obscene comments on a photo of his 4-year old daughter Alaina on his Facebook page, where it was seen that she was standing in a field of sunflowers with a smile on her face and flowers in her hair.
Shakib and his wife Umme Ahmed Shishir removed the photo from their Facebook pages following the comments.
An investigation was launched following a verbal complaint from the victims, the DMP cybercrime unit said in a social media post on Friday.
On Saturday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)'s Cyber Crime Unit identified six Facebook user accounts responsible for the offensive comments on the picture of Shakib al Hasan's daughter.
