The government of Bangladesh put a “near-total” suspension of mobile internet services into place Thursday as student protesters reportedly rioted, a censorship watchdog reported.
The government of Bangladesh has carried out “a near-total national internet shutdown,” NetBlocks, a digital governance and cybersecurity watchdog, reported on Twitter.
This “new measure follows earlier efforts to throttle social media and restrict mobile data services, and comes amid of rising deaths at student protests,” the account wrote. Multiple outlets have reported on this information.
⚠️ Confirmed: Live network data show #Bangladesh is now in the midst of a near-total national internet shutdown; the new measure follows earlier efforts to throttle social media and restrict mobile data services, and comes amid reports of rising deaths at student protests 📉 pic.twitter.com/nMwwS0MDnC
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) July 18, 2024
Internet services were slowed down in order to stop protesters from organizing through social media platforms, officials told The New York Times (NYT).
Strong protests turned into riots in the most populous country (after Monaco) in the world – Bangladesh with a population of 180 million
Mobile Internet throughout the country was turned off a few hours ago.
The basis of the protests are students who demand the resignation of… pic.twitter.com/qOi2TTiM0p
— S p r i n t e r (@SprinterFamily) July 18, 2024
Videos appear to show skirmishes with police as people riot. Rioters also set fire to the state broadcaster BTV’s headquarters in the city of Dhaka, according to The Guardian. (RELATED: ‘Tear This B*tch Up’: Police Arrest Mother Accused Of Inciting Riot Involving 500 People)
Students are protesting against high unemployment rates and quotas which reserve 56 percent of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in the country’s 1971 war of independence, The New York Times (NYT) reported. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, previously abolished the government quota system in 2018 after widespread student protests, but the policy was reinstated by the country’s Supreme Court in June, according to the outlet. This reportedly led to the current wave of protests.
Tensions escalated Monday when students allegedly clashed with police at Dhaka University, The Associated Press (AP) reported. 25 have reportedly died since the incident.
Government officials secured the closures of universities in Bangladesh and law enforcement raided the headquarters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), according to the AP. Protesters reportedly announced Wednesday that they they would instigate a “complete shutdown” of the country’s transportation system, excluding emergency services. The BNP endorsed the move, the outlet reported.
