In response to ongoing protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, Bangladesh has temporarily blocked several major social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and WhatsApp. The restrictions began on August 2, as reported by Global Eyes News.
The ban came shortly after Turkey imposed a similar restriction on Instagram following concerns over information related to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s death. In Bangladesh, the disruption of social media has led to widespread complaints about outages, particularly affecting Facebook and Messenger, according to The Daily Star.
This is not the first instance of internet restrictions in Bangladesh. On July 31, the government lifted previous bans on social media platforms following a relaxation of curfew restrictions. The recent disruptions are linked to protests triggered by a proposed quota system for government jobs aimed at individuals with family members involved in Bangladesh’s liberation movement.
Reports indicate that the Ministry of Home Affairs instructed mobile operators to enforce the ban, which also included Telegram. Although services were partially restored after nearly six hours, officials attributed the delay to a “filtering process” required to reinstate internet access.