A Supreme Court lawyer on Sunday severed a legal notice asking Facebook and YouTube to remove fake news and video contents which are provocative.

Barrister Arafat Hossain Khan sent this notice on behalf of lawyer Nilufar Anjum and Barrister Ashraful Islam.

This notice has been sent to several people, including Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman and Head of Public Policy (Bangladesh) of Facebook Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, Director General of Digital Security Agency, Inspector General of Police.

In the legal notice, the lawyer said they (respondents) have failed to monitor and control provocative posts on online and social media, which threaten the sovereignty and security of the state and the order of public life.

“False information has tarnished the image of the state, which is a violation of Articles 27, 31, 38 and 44 of the constitution. The posts have violated sections 30, 64, 76, 97A of Bangladesh Telecommunication Act and sections 8, 13, 16, 25 of Digital Security Act 2018 and section 46 of Information and Communication Technology Act.”

The notice also said, “Facebook and YouTube have recently been found not to be fully following their surveillance strategies. This is especially happening in Bangladesh. A lot of fake news, content, images and videos are spreading on social media in Bangladesh which are causing disrespect to many political and intellectual personalities.”

The image of Bangladesh is also being tarnished due to the broadcasting of many sensitive foreign policies with misleading information, it added.