‘Facebook, Twitter must be made accountable over rumour propagation’

Information minister Hasan Mahmud has said service providers of social media including Facebook and Twitter needed to be made accountable for spreading rumours, saying "I will talk to them in this regard".

The minister informed this before the start of a meeting on rumours at the secretariat here on Wednesday, reports UNB.

Urging all to remain vigilant against rumours, the minister informed that a high-level meeting will be held in this connection on Thursday.

"I think that more actions needed to be taken against those who are spreading deadly rumours. The government is determined to punish those who spread rumours in future," he added.

"In most of the cases rumours are given on post from foreign countries using fake ID. I hold meetings with UK and European Union to know how take measures in this regard.

They informed that they are formulating laws or guidelines to take action as well ensure punishment by identifying those who spread rumour and the service providers", he pointed out.

Describing the rumour as not only a growing problem of our country but of also many countries, Hasan Mahmud said, "a European Union survey mentioned that 80-90 per cent people described the dissemination of news based on fake social false news as social problem."

"In our country rumours are not being spread through mass media. These are being spread through unedited platforms, he said adding that "the rumours are being spread in a planned manner."