The government agrees to the demand placed by journalists to determine qualifications for journalism, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad A Arafat said on Thursday.

“According to the proposal of journalists, there is a need to have something (policy) to determine the qualification for journalism,” he said.
 
The state minister was speaking at a workshop titled ‘Role of mass media in building Smart Bangladesh’ at the BCS Administration Academy in Dhaka’s Shahbagh.
 
The Public Administration Ministry in association with the BCS Administration Academy organised the workshop for Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters’ Forum members.

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He said that if the government takes the initiative to determine the qualifications for journalists, it would be considered as an attempt to control journalism. So, professional journalists should raise their voices about it, he added.

“The government agrees to your (journalists) demand for determining requirements for journalism. The government has no problem from its end. We will resolve the matter,” the state minister said.
 
As non-professional people come to journalism, Arafat said that all professional journalists demanded to determine a definition of journalists, introduce an examination system for them and prepare a list of journalists.
 
Battle for credible information against disinformation is a must, which is going on, he said.

He said that journalists have an opportunity to play a role in preventing disinformation by receiving training.

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Speaking about the Cyber Security Act (CSA), the state minister said, “Not only the CSA, we all should take stance in unison against the misuse of any law”.
 
The government does not want innocent people to suffer because of misuse of any law, Arafat said.

He added that the pro-liberation forces were attacked several times through propaganda and lies. "Where truth stops, falsehood and rumours head up there."

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Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain, Dhaka University (DU) former Vice-Chancellor and eminent educationist Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, Senior Secretary of Public Administration Ministry Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury and Senior Secretary of Information and Broadcasting Ministry Md Humayun Kabir Khandaker also took part in the panel discussion.