It is disheartening to see that, as journalists, we are losing both our inquisitiveness and our capacity for critical thinking. Instead, our work is increasingly tilting towards relaying and amplifying pre-processed information— much like the growing fascination with processed foods. Laziness may be partly responsible for this habit. Cooking requires thought, preparation, and labour; processed food, by contrast, sits on shelves or in freezers waiting to be consumed with minimal effort. Lazy journalism is just as convenient: communication experts package information that advances their employers' political or commercial interests and deliver it to journalists—often to familiar faces— through digital communication or courtesy visits.  Professional training and ethics require journalists to examine such processed content critically, rigorously analyse it, ask pertinent questions, verify both current and historical facts, and then reprocess the information for publication or bro...

When the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported that Israeli cybersecurity companies sold spyware systems to Bangladesh – a country that does not recognise Israel – the response from our government was that it had not bought the systems “directly” from Israel. Haaretz didn’t say it either, but revealed details of the technology and the identities of the owning company and its intermediaries spread in three countries: Cyprus, Switzerland and Singapore. Just one day after this revelation, on January 12, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told MPs that the government has taken initiative to introduce an Integrated Lawful Interception System (ILIS) to monitor social media and thwart various anti-state and anti-government activities.  First came a non-denial of the fact that the government agencies have indeed procured highly sophisticated Israeli technology, which many experts describe as a surveillance weapon; then a confirmation of the existence of an integrated interception system, which ...

The launching of an On-site Identification and Verification System (OIVS) by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is undoubtedly a significant addition of a digital tool in policing. It will allow them to dig out details of anyone's NID, passport and immigration history, criminal database, previous arrest history and information about any stay in jail within seconds, simply by putting in the fingerprint of a suspect into the OIVS. The device required for the OIVS is as portable as a mobile phone and works via WiFi and mobile connections. According to a press release issued by RAB on February 28, it claims, immediate access of law enforcement agencies to various national databases including NID, Passport and BRTA has become urgent. But it is not always possible to get information directly from the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center's (NTMC) databases. Hence, RAB's Management of Information System (MIS) unit has developed its own tracking system. About a week later, on Ma...