All social media platforms including Facebook will be unblocked within two hours on Wednesday. State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak confirmed the development. Palak shared the update following virtual meeting with representatives from Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, joining from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) building in Dhaka's Agargaon this morning. Earlier on July 18, internet services were disrupted and access to social media platforms were blocked.   Read more: Only Youtube gets back to Palak; Facebook, others have till Wed morning

While the social media platform is still officially restricted in Bangladesh, Facebook is seeing a “red tide” as an overwhelming number of students and people from all walks of life in the country are changing their profile pictures with red images. The government had earlier announced that mourning day would be observed nationwide on Tuesday (July 30, 2024) to honour those who died during the violence surrounding the student protests for quota reform. The decision came at a cabinet meeting on Monday. In accordance, government officials and many others wore black badges. However, this decision was met with opposition from protesting students, who rejected the gesture as “dismissive of their struggle.” After the announcement of mourning day, Mahin Sarker, a coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Students’ Movement, published a video statement. “Without addressing the mass killings and oppression committed by the state, they are mocking students every day. In protest of this, to achieve the students’ demands, we request a nationwide campaign on Tuesday where participants will cover their faces and eyes with red cloth and take photos, which will be widely circulated online. Our symbol is red, as the symbol of rebellion. We urge students and our countrymen to take part in this campaign,” he said. Abdul Hannan Masud, another coordinator, added, “We consider the government’s decision to observe mourning day a mockery. Students boycotted their black badge program.” In solidarity, people from various walks of life—students, teachers, doctors, journalists—flooded social media with red profile pictures, using hashtags such as #RedforJustice, #RedforVictims, #StudentsInRed, #RedAgainstOppression, #BloodOnTheirHands, and #JulyMassacre. Read more: Govt will ensure ‘extremist’ Jamaat-Shibir cannot exploit legal loopholes to engage in politics: Quader A student from the University of Dhaka wrote, “Red is my love, blood, resistance, and revolution. A protest against mass killing and mass arrest.” Jesmin Papri, a journalist, wrote, “Having seen so much blood of kids, this red is nothing.” Yashab Osama Rahman, another journalist, wrote, “For the kids, for the future, for the present and for all the things we were put through in the past. For us.” People updated their profile pictures with captions such as: “Red is the colour of blood,” “Red is the colour of rebellion,” “Not the black of grief, but the red of betrayal,” and “Come next Spring, we will be twice as many.” Read more: PM Hasina visits vandalised Metro Rail station at Mirpur-10

A video featuring a restaurant in India’s Bangalore has gone viral and is trending online, as it shows a cook using a broom to clean the tawa (griddle). The video shows the process of making dosas from scratch, giving viewers an idea of what goes into the preparation. After seeing it, however, Facebook users were enraged, reports NDTV. 10 Bangladeshi Winter Street Foods: Taste Meets Tradition The video by @thefoodiebae shows a cook standing in front of a giant tawa in a restaurant's open kitchen. Crowds of consumers can be seen behind him, waiting for their orders. The cook begins preparing the tawa for dosas. He sprinkles it with water and then sweeps the tawa with a broom. On the heated tawa, the water starts to vaporise, and he resumes his sweeping motion. Following that, he begins spreading batter in circular motions to produce the dosas. One tawa can accommodate 12 dosas, it said. AI Robot Chefs: Automated Cooking Could Redefine Food Industry The video has been viewed 15 million times and received 111K likes. Disapproving comments have flooded the comments section, however. Many individuals have objected to using a broom to clean the tawa. 5 Tasty Savoury Winter Pitha Recipes for Bangladeshi Kitchen

Facebook is a crucial platform for businesses with a huge user base. However, there's a lot of content, and it's tough for algorithms to pick the right stuff quickly. Many businesses are competing for space in the news feed, making it hard to reach people naturally. To do well, focusing on attracting visitors is mandatory. Following the tips in this article can help you reach more people on Facebook. Basic Strategies to Increase Facebook's Reach Organically Tailor Your Content to Specific Audiences Recognize the importance of meaningful interactions and adjust your posting approach accordingly. Always consider the specific users your post is targeting. Publish posts that you believe will be genuinely interesting and relevant to your intended audience. Whether or not a post is sponsored, you can target each of your posts on your business page to a specific audience. Control Your Posting Frequency The frequency of your Facebook posts is a crucial factor. Aim to post as often as possible while maintaining quality content. It's essential to keep your Facebook page active to foster growth. Avoid over-posting, as it can become annoying, and don't post so infrequently that your audience forgets about you. Hubspot's research suggests that for pages with fewer than 10,000 fans, engagement per post drops by 50% if you post more than once per day. Consider a guideline of one post per day or up to five posts per week. Read more: How to Prevent Facebook Hacking: Security measures from Mobile, Desktop Encourage Audience Interaction Publish content that sparks conversations among your audience. Facebook's algorithm takes note when a post generates a lot of discussion among a user's friends and may prioritize such posts. Content that people want to share and discuss with their friends holds value. Time Your Posts for Maximum Impact The recency of a post is crucial, as the newest posts appear at the top of users' news feeds. To maximize visibility and engagement, schedule your posts to coincide with your audience's online activity. According to Coschedule, the best times to post are between 1-4 pm, with specific time slots based on each weekday. Keep in mind that these times may vary depending on your followers' behavior patterns. You can use Hootsuite to obtain custom recommendations for the best posting times. Share Longer Videos Facebook's algorithm prioritizes videos based on watch time and completion rates. Focus on creating videos that capture your audience's attention and keep them engaged for longer durations, preferably over three minutes. Additionally, native videos receive a boost in reach. Read more: How to Earn Money from Facebook Leverage Your Top Advocates Facebook prioritizes posts from person to person over those from pages to a person. Encourage your employees to post about your brand, as their content carries more credibility and authority with the algorithm due to their personal connections. Sharing your brand's posts on your personal timeline can also help improve visibility. Avoid Engagement Baiting Steer clear of engagement-baiting tactics, which involve creating posts designed to artificially boost engagement through likes, shares, comments, and other actions. These tactics can result in lower visibility, as Facebook demotes such posts. Examples include asking for reactions, comments, shares, tags, or votes. Read more: How Do Social Media Influencers Make Money?

Google, Facebook, TikTok and other Big Tech companies operating in Europe must comply with one of the most far-reaching efforts to clean up what people see online. The European Union's groundbreaking new digital rules took effect Friday for the biggest platforms. The Digital Services Act is part of a suite of tech-focused regulations crafted by the 27-nation bloc — long a global leader in cracking down on tech giants. Also read : Technology should be smart, people-friendly, cost-effective: Speakers The DSA is designed to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content that's either illegal or violates a platform's terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia. It also looks to protect Europeans' fundamental rights like privacy and free speech. Some online platforms, which could face billions in fines if they don't comply, already have made changes. Also read : Scientific Advisory Board for Independent Advice on Breakthroughs in Science and Technology Here's a look at what has changed: WHICH PLATFORMS ARE AFFECTED? So far, 19. They include eight social media platforms: Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat. There are five online marketplaces: Amazon, Booking.com, China's Alibaba AliExpress and Germany's Zalando. Mobile app stores Google Play and Apple's App Store are subject, as are Google's Search and Microsoft's Bing search engine. Also read : Walton to hold first-ever mega 'International Advanced Components and Technology Expo' in August Google Maps and Wikipedia round out the list. WHAT ABOUT OTHER ONLINE COMPANIES? The EU's list is based on numbers submitted by the platforms. Those with 45 million or more users — or 10% of the EU's population — face the DSA's highest level of regulation. Brussels insiders, however, have pointed to some notable omissions, like eBay, Airbnb, Netflix and even PornHub. The list isn't definitive, and it's possible other platforms may be added later on. Any business providing digital services to Europeans will eventually have to comply with the DSA. They will face fewer obligations than the biggest platforms, however, and have another six months before they must fall in line. WHAT'S CHANGING? Platforms have rolled out new ways for European users to flag illegal online content and dodgy products, which companies will be obligated to take down quickly and objectively. The DSA "will have a significant impact on the experiences Europeans have when they open their phones or fire up their laptops," Nick Clegg, Meta's president for global affairs, said in a blog post. Facebook and Instagram's existing tools to report content will be easier to access. Amazon opened a new channel for reporting suspect goods. TikTok gave users an extra option for flagging videos, such as for hate speech and harassment, or frauds and scams, which will be reviewed by an additional team of experts, according to the app from Chinese parent company ByteDance. Google is offering more "visibility" into content moderation decisions and different ways for users to contact the company. It didn't offer specifics. Under the DSA, Google and other platforms have to provide more information behind why posts are taken down. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat also are giving people the option to turn off automated systems that recommend videos and posts based on their profiles. Such systems have been blamed for leading social media users to increasingly extreme posts. The DSA also prohibits targeting vulnerable categories of people, including children, with ads. Platforms like Snapchat and TikTok will stop allowing teen users to be targeted by ads based on their online activities. Google will provide more information about targeted ads shown to people in the EU and give researchers more access to data on how its products work. IS THERE PUSHBACK? Zalando, a German online fashion retailer, has filed a legal challenge over its inclusion on the DSA's list of the largest online platforms, arguing that it's being treated unfairly. Nevertheless, Zalando is launching content flagging systems for its website even though there's little risk of illegal material showing up among its highly curated collection of clothes, bags and shoes. The company has supported the DSA, said Aurelie Caulier, Zalando's head of public affairs for the EU. "It will bring loads of positive changes" for consumers, she said. But "generally, Zalando doesn't have systemic risk (that other platforms pose). So that's why we don't think we fit in that category." Amazon has filed a similar case with a top EU court. WHAT IF COMPANIES DON'T FOLLOW THE RULES? Officials have warned tech companies that violations could bring fines worth up to 6% of their global revenue — which could amount to billions — or even a ban from the EU. "The real test begins now," said European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who oversees digital policy. He vowed to "thoroughly enforce the DSA and fully use our new powers to investigate and sanction platforms where warranted." But don't expect penalties to come right away for individual breaches, such as failing to take down a specific video promoting hate speech. Instead, the DSA is more about whether tech companies have the right processes in place to reduce the harm that their algorithm-based recommendation systems can inflict on users. Essentially, they'll have to let the European Commission, the EU's executive arm and top digital enforcer, look under the hood to see how their algorithms work. EU officials "are concerned with user behavior on the one hand, like bullying and spreading illegal content, but they're also concerned about the way that platforms work and how they contribute to the negative effects," said Sally Broughton Micova, an associate professor at the University of East Anglia. That includes looking at how the platforms work with digital advertising systems, which could be used to profile users for harmful material like disinformation, or how their livestreaming systems function, which could be used to instantly spread terrorist content, said Broughton Micova, who's also academic co-director at the Centre on Regulation in Europe, a Brussels-based think tank. Big platforms have to identify and assess potential systemic risks and whether they're doing enough to reduce them. These assessments are due by the end of August and then they will be independently audited. The audits are expected to be the main tool to verify compliance — though the EU's plan has faced criticism for lacking details that leave it unclear how the process will work. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD? Europe's changes could have global impact. Wikipedia is tweaking some policies and modifying its terms of use to provide more information on "problematic users and content." Those alterations won't be limited to Europe and "will be implemented globally," said the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the community-powered encyclopedia. "The rules and processes that govern Wikimedia projects worldwide, including any changes in response to the DSA, are as universal as possible," it said in a statement. Snapchat said its new reporting and appeal process for flagging illegal content or accounts that break its rules will be rolled out first in the EU and then globally in the coming months. It's going to be hard for tech companies to limit DSA-related changes, said Broughton Micova, adding that digital ad networks aren't isolated to Europe and that social media influencers can have global reach. The regulations are "dealing with multichannel networks that operate globally. So there is going to be a ripple effect once you have kind of mitigations that get taken into place," she said.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal will hold a meeting with a Facebook delegation on Thursday (August 3, 2023), on preventing propaganda on social media. The meeting will be held at Election Commission building in Dhaka’s Agargaon at 11 am tomorrow. Read: Dialogue among political parties needed to resolve crisis: CEC tells US Ambassador When contacted, Election Commission (EC) Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath said, the Facebook delegation sought time for the meeting. Asked about the reason behind the meeting, he said, “The national election is approaching. With that in mind, there can be a discussion on how to prevent propaganda on social media.” Read: US to send pre-election assessment and monitoring team in early Oct: Peter Haas Three officials from Facebook's Singapore office will meet the CEC. The delegation will be led by head of public policy for Bangladesh at Facebook's parent company Meta, Ruzan Sarwar, the EC official said.

Sauyi Chui (28), a Chinese citizen, recently got married to Faria Sultana (20) from Gayeshpur upazila of Chuadanga district. The two met on the social media platform Facebook about eight months ago. Faria, who works in a garment factory in Dhaka, married Sauyi on the second day of Eid-ul-Azha in the capital. South Asia home to world’s highest number of child brides: UNICEF Sauyi has been staying at his in-laws’ in Chuadanga. His sister works in Dhaka. Faria said, “Sauyi and I first communicated through WeChat on Facebook. My family liked him too. He taught me a bit of Chinese. After all the formalities are completed, he will take me to China. My sister-in-law works in the garment sector and lives in Dhaka. Sauyi and I communicate through Google translator and I hope I will be able to learn the Chinese language soon.” Mauritian woman turns Bangladeshi bride Sanwar Hossain, Faria’s father, said, “When we were informed about their relationship, we asked Sauyi to visit us. After meeting him, we found him to be gentle and polite. They got married in Dhaka earlier, but we held a celebration for them here (Chuadanga) as well.” Besides locals, people from neighbouring villages came to see the groom too. ISIS bride Shamima Begum wins right to return to UK

A new report by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism suggests that Facebook is becoming significantly less important as a source of news. The report titled “Digital News Report -2023” found that only 28% of people surveyed accessed news through Facebook in 2023, compared to 42% in 2016.  The figures were based on interviews with some 94,000 people across 46 countries, conducted for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, part of Britain's University of Oxford. “Facebook remains one of the most-used social networks overall, but its influence on journalism is declining as it shifts its focus away from news,” Lead author Nic Newman said in a press release. Also read: CNN head Chris Licht is out at the global news network after a brief, tumultuous tenure Newman highlighted that Facebook now faces new challenges from established networks such as YouTube and vibrant youth-focused networks such as TikTok. “The Chinese-owned social network reaches 44% of 18–24s across markets and 20% for news. It is growing fastest in parts of Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America,” he said. Meanwhile, the report found that influencers and celebrities are increasingly taking over from journalists as the main source of news for young people across almost all social media platforms except for Twitter and Facebook. A new report by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism suggests that Facebook is becoming significantly less important as a source of news. Also read: Lack of transparency exposes Bangladeshi news sites to disinformation risks: new report The report titled “Digital News Report -2023” found that only 28% of people surveyed accessed news through Facebook in 2023, compared to 42% in 2016.  The figures were based on interviews with some 94,000 people across 46 countries, conducted for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, part of Britain's University of Oxford. “Facebook remains one of the most-used social networks overall, but its influence on journalism is declining as it shifts its focus away from news,” Lead author Nic Newman said in a press release. Newman highlighted that Facebook now faces new challenges from established networks such as YouTube and vibrant youth-focused networks such as TikTok. Also read: Trial begins in case against Fox News for false election claims “The Chinese-owned social network reaches 44% of 18–24s across markets and 20% for news. It is growing fastest in parts of Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America,” he said. Meanwhile, the report found that influencers and celebrities are increasingly taking over from journalists as the main source of news for young people across almost all social media platforms except for Twitter and Facebook. According to the report, 55 percent of TikTok and Snapchat users and 52 percent of Instagram users get their news from "personalities" — compared to 33 percent of Tiktok, 36 percent of Snapchat and 42 percent of Instagram users who get it from mainstream media and journalists on those platforms, which are most popular among the young.  “We find that, while mainstream journalists often lead conversations around news in Twitter and Facebook, they struggle to get attention in newer networks like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, where personalities, influencers, and ordinary people are often more prominent, even when it comes to conversations around news,” Newman said. Also read: Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News  Trust and interest in news Among other indicators, the news industry has seen a sharp decline in terms of trust and interest. According to the report, trust in the news has fallen across markets by further 2-percentage points in the last year, reversing in many countries the gains made at the height of the pandemic. “On average, 40% of our sample say they trust most news most of the time,” the lead author of the report said. Meanwhile, around 36% of the interviewees said they actively avoided the news sometimes or often, seven points above the figure in 2017 but two points lower than last year. Read more: Journalism award to recognize outstanding reporting on Bangladesh-China trade, investment ties In interviews, many said that news stories are too repetitive or too “emotionally draining”. According to the report, 55 percent of TikTok and Snapchat users and 52 percent of Instagram users get their news from "personalities" — compared to 33 percent of Tiktok, 36 percent of Snapchat and 42 percent of Instagram users who get it from mainstream media and journalists on those platforms, which are most popular among the young.  “We find that, while mainstream journalists often lead conversations around news in Twitter and Facebook, they struggle to get attention in newer networks like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, where personalities, influencers, and ordinary people are often more prominent, even when it comes to conversations around news,” Newman said. Trust and interest in news Among other indicators, the news industry has seen a sharp decline in terms of trust and interest. Read more: Women’s participation in journalism still very low: Dialogue According to the report, trust in the news has fallen across markets by further 2-percentage points in the last year, reversing in many countries the gains made at the height of the pandemic. “On average, 40% of our sample say they trust most news most of the time,” the lead author of the report said. Meanwhile, around 36% of the interviewees said they actively avoided the news sometimes or often, seven points above the figure in 2017 but two points lower than last year. In interviews, many said that news stories are too repetitive or too “emotionally draining”. Read more: Russian House lauds growing presence of online journalism in Bangladesh

The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday (May 22, 2023) and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears. The penalty fine of 1.2 billion euros from Ireland's Data Protection Commission is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon's 746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations. The Irish watchdog is Meta's lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giant's European headquarters is based in Dublin. Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. Read more: Facebook user data issue: Facebook parent company Meta will pay $725M “There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” the company said. “This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.,” Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global and affairs, and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. It's yet another twist in a legal battle that began in 2013 when Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint about Facebook’s handling of his data following former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations about U.S. cybersnooping. The saga has highlighted the clash between Washington and Brussels over the differences between Europe's strict view on data privacy and the comparatively lax regime in the U.S., which lacks a federal privacy law. Read more: Meta oversight board urges changes to VIP moderation system An agreement covering EU-U.S. data transfers known as the Privacy Shield was struck down in 2020 by the EU's top court, which said it didn’t do enough to protect residents from the U.S. government's electronic prying. That left another tool to govern data transfers — stock legal contracts. Irish regulators initially ruled that Meta didn't need to be fined because it was acting in good faith in using them to move data across the Atlantic. But it was overruled by the EU's top panel of data privacy authorities last month, a decision that the Irish watchdog confirmed Monday. Meanwhile, Brussels and Washington signed an agreement last year on a reworked Privacy Shield that Meta could use, but the pact is awaiting a decision from European officials on whether it adequately protects data privacy. EU institutions have been reviewing the agreement, and the bloc's lawmakers this month called for improvements, saying the safeguards aren't strong enough. Read more: Meta contributes over Tk1.5 crore for Sitrang-hit people's rehabilitation efforts Meta warned in its latest earnings report that without a legal basis for data transfers, it will be forced to stop offering its products and services in Europe, “which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.” The social media company might have to carry out a costly and complex revamp of its operations if it's forced to stop shipping user data across the Atlantic. Meta has a fleet of 21 data centers, according to its website, but 17 of them are in the United States. Three others are in the European nations of Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. Another is in Singapore. Other social media giants are facing pressure over their data practices. TikTok has tried to soothe Western fears about the Chinese-owned short video sharing app's potential cybersecurity risks with a $1.5 billion project to store U.S. user data on Oracle servers. Read more: Ohio retirement fund sues Facebook over investment loss

TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and other Big Tech companies are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies. The U.K. government unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition. Meanwhile, the European Union was set to release a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that face extra scrutiny and obligations under the 27-nation bloc's landmark digital rules taking effect later this year. Also Read: TikTok attorney: China can’t get U.S. data under plan The updates help solidify Europe’s reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms. Britain's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposes giving watchdogs more teeth to draw down the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue. Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines can be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work. The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews “without taking reasonable steps" to verify they're genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions. The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue. Also Read: Twitter restores blue tick to high-profile accounts with over 1 million followers Also Tuesday, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is set to designate 19 of the biggest online platforms or search engines that will have to take extra steps to clean up illegal content and disinformation and keep users safe online. Violations of the bloc’s new Digital Services Act could result in fines worth up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue — amounting to billions of dollars — or even a ban on operating in the EU. Google, Twitter, TikTok, Apple, Facebook and Instagram have already disclosed that they have more than 45 million users in Europe, putting them over the bloc's threshold.