Dhaka, Nov 29 (V7N) – The interim government of Bangladesh has provided a detailed explanation regarding the number of content removal requests submitted to Google. In a post on the Chief Adviser’s office Facebook page on the night of November 28, the government clarified that it has never requested the removal of news articles, social media posts, videos, reels, online articles, or political criticism of any internal critic outside the scope of misinformation, propaganda, or illegal defamatory content.
 
Requests related to misinformation, propaganda, or attempts at character assassination through illegal content are submitted to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) via law enforcement agencies and the National Cyber Security Agency. The government emphasized that it does not operate any bot networks or platforms to control social media and that no Bangladeshi agency has direct authority to remove content from platforms; requests must be formally submitted.
 
Analysis of Google’s Transparency Report shows that from January to June 2025, Bangladesh submitted 279 requests, significantly lower than the 867 requests made during June–December 2022 under the previous government. During July–December 2024, only 153 requests were submitted. Over 65% of these requests were categorized as ‘Not enough information,’ indicating no targeted political intent.
 
The government stated that Bangladesh faced large-scale misinformation campaigns during the first half of 2025, often originating from foreign media. Some reports were submitted to Google to protect national political stability, online security, and societal cohesion. Requests also included content related to online gambling takedowns.
 
The government highlighted that the transparency report does not separate misinformation, propaganda, or character assassination requests from general government requests, resulting in such submissions appearing under the general government category. Nevertheless, the total number of requests remains far lower than under the previous administration.
 
Authorities emphasized that responsible reporting should verify facts before publishing sensational news. Bangladesh has also made significant progress in freedom of speech and internet freedom rankings. According to Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2025 report, Bangladesh recorded the highest global improvement in internet freedom, with the national score rising from 40 to 45, reflecting seven years of progress due to reforms and the interim government’s efforts to prevent internet shutdowns and strengthen cyber security.
 
Source - https://transparencyreport.google.com/.../government.../BD

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