Starlink being launched in Bangladesh to stop online shutdown forever: Alam

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said the main reason Elon Musk's Starlink is invited and being launched in Bangladesh is to stop the business of online shutdown forever.

“The Sheikh Hasina dictatorship shut down internet on scores of occasions during her 16 years rule," he wrote on a post in his verified Facebook account on Tuesday.

Internet shutdown is a favourite tool of the dictators and autocrats to crack down protests or suppress any major opposition agitations, Alam said. 

But in the process, he said, hundreds of thousands of freelancers were affected. 

"Some lose their contracts and jobs forever. Starlink's arrival in the Bangladesh market means no future government can fully shut down the internet," the press secretary said. 

He said at least BPO firms, call centres and freelancers will never be hit by any new attempt to stop the net.