NTMC increasing capacity to prevent anti-government propaganda

The National Telecommunications Monitoring Center (NTMC) is going to increase its capacity to block and filter content published on various websites, including social media, to prevent anti-government propaganda.

The Finance Ministry said that the purchase proposal for the 'Expansion of Content Blocking and Filtering System (Phase-1)' for NTMC was approved at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement on Wednesday.

The ministry's notification stated that a cost of Tk94.95 crore will be spent for this under the agreement with 'Global Brand PLC', a company supplying products from various countries. However, the details of what products or equipment NTMC will purchase under this agreement were not given.

The organization has been working to prevent anti-state and government propaganda under the content blocking and filtering system since its establishment. A report published in 2019, citing an NTMC press release, said that the organization would be able to block illegal content on the internet, including anti-government propaganda.

During the previous government, NTMC was accused of eavesdropping on citizens' private lives through a state surveillance framework.

The interim government that came to power after the fall of the Awami League took the initiative to abolish NTMC. On December 24 last year, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus approved the final draft of the Telecommunication (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, abolishing NTMC and proposing the formation of a new organization called the 'Center for Information Support (CIS)'.

However, the initiative did not move forward when the interim government was dismissed in less than two months with elections. The BNP government that came to power refrained from passing the ordinances that the interim government had passed in the name of institutional reforms in parliament. As a result, discussions regarding the abolition of NTMC also stalled.

Meanwhile, information came to light about the approval to purchase the necessary equipment to increase the capacity of the organization.

In the same meeting, the decision to purchase 10 million liters of refined rice bran oil and palm olein (in two-liter bottles) and 20,000 tonnes of lentils was also approved.