Since early July 2024, students across Bangladesh have been protesting against a decision of the High Court in Bangladesh ordering reinstatement of a discriminatory quota system for coveted civil service jobs, which currently reserves 56 percent of positions for quota holders. The protests, demanding justified and long-overdue reforms to a disproportionately preferential system that reportedly benefits affiliates of the ruling party, were met with extreme hostility and police brutality, resulting in at least 148 reported deaths, mainly students. The government has severely cracked down on the protesters, including use of live and rubber bullets and other means of brute force, as well as compelling university administrators to discontinue classes and close dorms, leaving students stranded and denying them water, food, and protection. Mass arrests have ensued.
Since July 18, all communication channels including mobile and broadband Internet services have been shut down, effectively cutting off the country’s population from the rest of the world.
While the demonstrations started with demands for reform to an unfair quota system, heavy handed attacks on peaceful student protesters have led to a mass uprising, pushing back against the government’s legacy of corruption, lawlessness, and clampdown of fundamental rights. In response, a nationwide curfew was announced on Friday under Section 144 of the country’s Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 along with the deployment of the military, paramilitary and special forces. Additionally, the government has enforced a de facto blackout of all national media outlets, including the press, broadcasting and radio, resulting in the Bangladeshi people only receiving a partial narrative of the events on the ground. On Sunday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ordered the quota allocation to be reduced to 7 percent in an emergency hearing.
In light of these developments, we, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the violence against peaceful demonstrations, and urge the authorities to uphold human rights, and restore access to the country’s communication and Internet services that can save lives during a conflict.
A significant body of research shows the communication blackout such as in Bangladesh results in more misinformation about the protests and situation on the ground. Our analysis of the ongoing demonstration finds a similar pattern in Bangladesh.
Since the blackout, expatriate Bangladeshis trying to reach their families and loved ones are finding outdated information online, including out-of-context videos, false information, and disinformation shared by malicious actors, which widens existing trust deficits among the public. Journalists are unable to safely report events, and fact-checkers and human rights defenders are unable to debunk false information or communicate with stakeholders. With no alternative source of information available, the people of Bangladesh are now only relying on word of mouth that risks exacerbating tensions on the ground.
We call upon the following groups to stand with those exercising their constitutional and human rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and assembly.
Specifically, we call upon:
The United Nations, democratic countries, and bilateral trading partners to:
- Condemn the violence against the peaceful protesters, and repression of its citizens’ fundamental rights enshrined in Bangladesh’s Constitution and international treaties that the country ratified;
- Urge the authorities to immediately restore access to all communication and Internet services, enabling the public to exercise their rights to information and expression;
- Press the government for necessary institutional reforms, and transparent investigations and prosecution of wrongdoings, including accountability for the violence against protesters; and
- Apply international and bilateral accountability interventions to ensure those committing violence and violating international human rights law are met with proportionate measures.
Businesses, especially telecommunication and technology companies, to:
- Ensure the Bangladeshi people’s rights to expression, privacy, and safety, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
- Ensure the above human rights standards and principles are comprehensively implemented at every stage of companies’ decision-making and operations, including platform policy creation, maintenance and compliance, content moderation, data access requests, transparency reporting, and public policy outreach;
- Resist pressure from national authorities complicit in the violence to provide access to user data, shut down services, and remove content or downrank information that depicts ground realities;
- Establish equitable measures that safeguards freedom of expression and right to information while reducing harmful speech and conduct on their services by following due human rights process, specifically incitement to violence, coordinated inauthentic campaigns to spread disinformation, and misinformation through out-of-context content;
- Appropriately act against repeat offenders violently threatening the Bangladeshi people, in accordance with international human rights law, to reduce risks of offline harms;
- Establish necessary protocols to safeguard access to services, build resilience to counter shutdowns, and preserve authentic evidence of wrongdoings;
- Engage immediately and consistently with a wide range of civil society and human rights stakeholders with deep contextual knowledge to obtain holistic and accurate perspectives to aid in decision-making; and
- Acknowledge that the events on the ground are fast evolving, and commit to the allocation of adequate resources with appropriate language capabilities and socio-political context for a proportionate response.
International media organizations to:
- Continue engaging consistently with partners on the ground, where possible, and credible expatriate Bangladeshi journalists and experts, to gather accurate, contextually-situated information and share as widely as possible;
- Provide wide coverage on their publications that exposes and documents the violence against peaceful demonstrators and the ongoing human rights violations against the country’s citizens; and
- Strongly condemn the suppression of speech and press freedoms, and call out the current information blackout as a result of Internet and communication shutdowns.
The international student community, Bangladeshi student associations, and expatriate Bangladeshis to:
- Write to elected public representatives to condemn the violence against the people of Bangladesh, and crackdown of protesters;
- Issue public statements of solidarity, while ensuring verification of facts, to continue raising awareness;
- Exercise caution when sharing information found online, recognizing that there is a significant spike in mis- and disinformation that risks influencing the narrative; and
- Mobilize public support to ensure the rights of the people of Bangladesh are protected.
International human rights and civil society organizations to:
- Continue to condemn the government’s actions, particularly violence against the peaceful protesters, restrictions on movement and assembly, and repression of its citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression and participation;
- Urge the authorities to immediately resume access to the Internet and communication services;
- Document atrocities committed by the authorities, and other stakeholders, and violations of fundamental rights of the Bangladeshi people, including Internet or service restrictions; and
- Raise awareness at an international level, and engage relevant stakeholders and partners to act on safeguarding human rights.
Each hour is critical. We urge you to act swiftly, decisively, and collectively, to safeguard the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Bangladeshi people.
In solidarity—
Aapti Institute
Access Now
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Body & Data
Bolo Bhi
EngageMedia
Foundation for Media Alternatives
Internet Freedom Foundation
JCA-NET (Japan)
PEN America
PIKAT Demokrasi (Indonesia)
Reports Without Borders (RSF)
Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
Sflc.in, India
Tech Global Institute
