Facebook reopens; WhatsApp, Viber still blocked

The government lifted the ban on social networking site Facebook on Thursday, 22 days after it had blocked the Facebook and online messaging and calling services WhatsApp and Viber temporarily. “Facebook has been reopened but online messaging and calling services WhatsApp and Viber still remained blocked,” State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim told reporters at the Secretariat. She said the decision to reopen Facebook was taken following permission from the Home Ministry. The junior minister also expressed sorrow to the young generation for the temporary problem caused to them due to the Facebook ban. Earlier, on November 18, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (BTRC) suspended the operation of social networking platform Facebook, Messenger, Viber and WhatsApp in Bangladesh for security reasons. — Dhaka, Dec 10 (UNB)