The government of Bangladesh has recently taken a significant step by banning several major social media and communication platforms. On Friday Bangladesh bans Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok. This decision impacts the use of these popular apps across the country.
Bangladesh has also restricted access to Facebook on mobile networks. Additionally the Russian messaging app Telegram has been blocked on mobile connections. This information was reported by Daily Bangladesh. The recent restriction follows an earlier shutdown of Meta’s platforms including Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The previous shutdown was in response to unrest related to quota reform protests.
The access to meta accounts was completely restricted by Friday at 12:15 noon for Bangladesh residents. However these restrictions are specifically limited to mobile data connections. Unlike the more comprehensive shutdown that occurred earlier, this time the ban is not as extensive.
Impact on Internet Users
Bangladesh has over 120 million mobile network users. The restriction on Facebook is expected to lead to increased use of VPNs potentially affecting overall Internet speeds. The recent announcement was announced after a lot of internet restrictions previously. Mobile Internet was disabled on July 17 and then broadband shutdown on July 18. Broadband services were partially restored after five days on July 23 but mobile networks remained offline until July 28.
The government’s decision to suspend Internet services nationwide in July was a reaction to student demonstrations. This announcement which was made on July 18 caused a lot of concern among Cox’s bazar refugee community. The Internet shutdown was viewed as a potential crisis by these communities.
Official Announcements
The Bangladeshi government announced the ban on Friday, August 2. Global Eyes News first reported that Bangladesh bans Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube through its official X account confirming that access to the mentioned social media platforms would be restricted throughout Bangladesh. This decision came shortly after Turkey also announced a ban on Instagram earlier the same day.
Local news outlets reported that several mobile Internet users in Bangladesh experienced outages with Facebook and Messenger as Bangladesh bans Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube. The Daily Star mentioned that an agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs instructed mobile operators to enforce the new ban. Telegram has also been blocked for the first time.
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Restoration of Services
The Dhaka Tribune reported that users in Bangladesh were able to access their Facebook and Messenger accounts again nearly six hours after the outage. Mobile service operators said they were told to restore mobile data on Friday evening.The ministry was conducting a “filtering process,” which caused the internet issues to take time to be fully resolved.
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