Photo: VOICE
VOICE has been working to strengthen freedom of expression online with different stakeholders, by building capacity, raising awareness and influencing policy to create an enabling environment for internet users. Social networking sites, especially Facebook and blogging, are very popular in Bangladesh as tools for the democratic practice of freedom of opinion and expression. In the recent past, however, there has been a dramatic increase in content blocking, surveillance and monitoring of users. Citizens are afraid to express themselves freely online because of the pervasive surveillance, filtering of content and criminalisation of free speech by the authorities. VOICE has organised capacity-building training and multi-stakeholder consultations addressing the issues of freedom of expression, privacy and human rights, while working to promote legal and policy regulations that comply with human rights frameworks. VOICE believes that without a free internet, freedom of expression and the right to privacy cannot be achieved.