Information and Broadcast Minister Hasan Mahmud said that legal steps would be taken against those are involved in circulating propaganda through online news portals from abroad.

The Minister said this while exchanging views with the reporters at the conference room of the ministry at the Secretariat on Monday (September 13).

Hasan Mahmud said, “Some people living abroad are running various propaganda using certain online portals.

We take action against them through coordination with other ministries. In this case, the kind of support that is needed from the service providers is not always available.”

“Therefore, as we are talking to the service providers, at the same time we have decided that all those run these propagandas will be prosecuted according to the laws of that country,” he added.

Citing an example, the minister said, “A few days ago, a portal published a report using very offensive words about the Prime Minister. We protest on behalf of the Ministry of Information. The portal’s office is in Paris, France. A legal notice has been served to them by a French lawyer.

Under French law, even under the law of European Union, it is not possible to make unreasonable reports by taunting or targeting individuals in this way. We have decided that the same action will be taken against those who are doing this from other countries as well.

”Hasan Mahmud said over social media that the mainstream media are working properly but there have been many attempts to spread rumors and mislead people through social media from home and abroad. Our ministry has already done a lot to bring discipline in this regard, including the registration of online news portals and IP TV.