'It's like drug abuse': JS body recommends banning TikTok
TikTok has recently removed more than 3.4 million videos of its Bangladeshi users
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs has compared the misuse of TikTok to drug abuse and recommended that the short-video sharing platform be banned in the country.
"It is high time we declared a war against TikTok, similar to the war on drugs, to save the young generation from its misuse, which was suggested at the 21st meeting of the standing committee of the 11th National Parliament on Thursday," Advocate Shamsul Haque, chairman of the committee, told The Business Standard (TBS).
There have been many incidents of loss of lives, decay and misguidance of the young generation through TikTok, along with the rise of juvenile crime by juvenile gangs. Parents, conscious citizens and society are concerned about such harmful aspects of social media like TikTok, he added.
"However, it is not our job to stop it. We can only put forward recommendations. We hope that the ministry concerned will consider the matter and take the initiative to ban it. Until then, law enforcement agencies are advised to increase surveillance on TikTok users, considering the harmful aspects of using TikTok," Tuku added.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, members of the committee Md Afsarul Amin, Samsul Alam Dudu, Pir Fazlur Rahman, Sultan Mohammad Mansoor Ahmad, Rumana Ali, Public Security Department Secretary Aktaron Hossain, and IGP of Police Benazir Ahmed participated in the meeting.
TikTok, a fast-growing short video sharing platform, has recently removed more than 3.4 million videos of its Bangladeshi users, according to its recently released Community Guidelines Report for January-March 2022.
Bangladesh was rated 7th in the world for the most videos taken down for Community Guidelines violations in the first quarter of this year, according to the report.
An official from TitTok told TBS that TikTok has a local team to moderate content and understand the behaviours of users. They are careful about any videos regarding child abuse, sexual harassment, violence and others that go against the community standards.
Earlier, TikTok removed more than 2.6 million videos uploaded by its users in Bangladesh, in October-December 2021.
Senior law enforcement officials said they regularly monitor all social media, including TikTok, and actions are taken if something objectionable is found.
Additional DIG of the Crime Investigation Department Md Kamrul Ahsan told TBS that the police will take action accordingly when they receive the recommendation of the parliamentary committee.
At the 21st meeting of the standing committee, reports were presented and discussed on the overall activities of the Directorate of Immigration and Passports and the overall activities undertaken by the Public Security Department, Security and Service Department and other organisations under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the current situation of the country.
The chairman of the committee said that several suggestions are made to the security services department to make the passport service more dynamic and seamless in the country and outside the country so that none has to suffer getting passports in some areas.
In the meeting, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has been advised to be more careful to prevent drugs from coming through the border. Shamsul Haque Tuku believes that if the BGB is alerted, the supply of drugs from Myanmar will decrease further.
Besides, the committee recommends all law enforcement agencies take more vigorous steps to implement a zero tolerance policy against hundi (a verbal or written agreement to pay a stated sum, used as part of an informal system for transferring money) to save the country's economy from damage.