Facebook interested to sit with govt

The Facebook authorities have showed interest to sit with Bangladesh govt next week over issues related to cyber security, reports BSS.

"Facebook Public Policy Director for India and South Asia Akhi Das, in a reply to my letter expressed their readiness to sit with us... hopefully, we will sit on December 6 or 7 in Dhaka," Tarana Halim, state minister for post and telecommunications, told the government news agency last night.

She said she sent the letter to the Facebook authorities to reach a deal to ensure cyber security over violence against women, instigation of religious intolerance, and fomenting of political unrest.

Earlier, Facebook turned down all requests of the government for information about users in the first half of this year. Facebook's "Global Government Requests Report", showed that the government made three requests about as many users/accounts between January and June this year.

In Bangladesh, over 30 million people are active on the popular social networking site and their number is increasing regularly, according to BSS.

On November 18, the government blocked public access to the social networking site temporarily following the Supreme Court's rejection of review petitions by condemned war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.