Rising Bengal Dhaka Bureau: Referring to the freedom of the media, Information and Broadcasting Minister of Bangladesh and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud said, "The media of Bangladesh does not enjoy the same freedom as many developed countries ".

The minister said this while addressing a discussion titled'Media's Achievements and Challenges in 50 Years'as the chief guest at a discussion at Dhaka Reporters'Unity (DRU) in the capital on Tuesday (March 30), with DRU President Mursalin Nomani in the chair, moderated by General Secretary Mashiur Rahman.

The minister added, "In the UK, various media outlets are regularly fined for false news In our country, false news, false news is not circulated No one can say this; there are many But there has not been a case where a newspaper has been closed down for this false or false news.

In our country, if a wrong news is circulated against someone, the protest must be printed with equal importance and if there is a false report on TV, the protest must be aired with equal importance " Dr Hassan noted.

On the Digital Security Act, he said that it is for the digital security of all across the country, not for any particular group "If a journalist's character is removed or his family is written against on social media, then what remedy will he get by the law?" The Minister said that when the digital world was not there, there was no need for a digital law.

There is so much talk about the Digital Security Act, like the Information Technology Act in India and the law around it in the world "But it is necessary to see that the law is not misused so that no one is harassed unnecessarily, I am also against the misuse of the law," said Dr.

Hasan Mahmud.

Speaking about the achievements of media in the country, the information minister said,'Today media has developed a lot at the end of 50 years I want to talk about the last 12 years The number of daily newspapers in Bangladesh was 450 Now the number of daily newspapers is 125.

Television was 10 12 years ago, private television started after Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina took office for the first time Now there are 34 TV channels on air, 11 more are waiting to come Online media was a handful 12 years ago Now it is a matter of seeing a few hundred or a few thousand.

But we have 5,000 applications submitted We have already given some registrations, more will be given, the process is underway '.

Journalist leaders Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Shawkat Mahmud, former president of Dhaka Reporters Unity Shakhawat Hossain Badsha, convener and organizing secretary of DRU's Independence Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee Mainul Hasan Sohel and member secretary and publicity and publication secretary Maidur Rahman also spoke at the event.

At the end of the meeting, the Information Minister handed over prizes to the winners of the'City Bank-DRU Badminton Tournament'organized on the occasion of the golden jubilee.