On 4 April 2013 (0700 GMT) all Bengali blogs were blacked out for an indefinite time to protest the arrest of four bloggers in Bangladesh (Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Rasel Parvez, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo and Asif Mohiuddin).[1] The blackout was to back a demand for the unconditional release of the arrested bloggers.[2][3] A fundamentalist group named Hefajat-e-Islam Bangladesh started a campaign to hang freethinking bloggers, and demanding tough blasphemy laws.[4] In response, the government started monitoring Bengali blog sites and sending letters to their authorities to terminate the alleged "anti-religious" blogs and provide information about the alleged "anti-religious" bloggers.[5] Individual bloggers showed their solidarity with this blackout by changing their profile photos on Facebook and by tweeting with the #MuzzleMeNot hashtag.[2] Different international organizations expressed deep concern about taking free-thinking bloggers into custody.[6][7][8] After 92 hours of blackout, blogs returned online by publishing a press release on their central Facebook page.[9]
- ^ বাংলা কমিউনিটি ব্লগ এলায়েন্সের যাত্রা শুরু হলো [BCBA starts its journey]. Bangla Community Blog Alliance (in Bengali). 6 April 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Bloggers in Bangladesh protest over arrest of writers". BBC News. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh blogs blacked out on arrests of atheists". The Indian Express. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Bangladesh tense ahead of Islamist march". MSN News. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Bangladeshi blogger targeted by Islamists and officials". ifex. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Bloggers in Bangladesh Worry They Could be Next Targets of Government Crackdown". HuffPost. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Take Action: Support Imprisoned Atheist Bloggers in Bangladesh". American Humanist Association.
- ^ "Arrests of 'atheist bloggers' shows Bangladesh authorities are "walking into a trap set by fundamentalists"". International Humanist and Ethical Union. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ 'ব্ল্যাক আউট' শেষে ব্লগগুলো সক্রিয় [Blogs are come out from blackout]. Samakal (in Bengali). 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.