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No respite from unwanted texts
BTRC directive yet to yield expected results
Mobile phone subscribers are still being flooded with promotional and commercial messages even a month after they opted to block them, which highlighted that the regulator s directive to the carriers to stop the nuisance is not working.
On April 24, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said subscribers could activate the Do Not Disturb (DND) service option by dialling shortcodes or sending messages if they want to keep promotional texts at bay.
But a number of users expressed annoyance, saying they still receive the unwanted messages. Hundreds of Facebook users vented their anger on the official Facebook page of the commission.
In this age of intelligent machines, journalists often keep information that is sensitive, confidential and self-evidentiary in their laptops or mobile phones, or in cloud storage facilities. That is why the threshold of privacy of such data is much higher than of personal data. One can recall the Panama Papers scandal, which shook the whole world with revelations of confidential documents regarding corruption and offshore wealth. Therefore, access to the digital devices of a journalist cannot be given without due process and judicial scrutiny, and without maintaining checks and balances in order to protect the right to privacy and freedom of the press in a democratic society.
This current phase of restrictions will end today.
However, the ongoing restrictions remain only on paper as there is little enforcement by government agencies to control public movement and plying vehicles.
Except for long-route buses, launches and trains, it seems everything came to normalcy.
Although most of the government offices remained shut, almost all private offices remained open alongside some government offices.
Health experts have again warned that such careless acts amid lax enforcement of the restrictions could result in a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.
There has been a rise in coronavirus infections after Eid-ul-Fitr, they said.