State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat told parliament today that his ministry has requested Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to close down all unregistered online portals.

The state minister said this while replying to a supplementary question from Awami League MP Feroz Ahammed Shapon from Satkhira-1.

In his supplementary question, Shapon said Bangladesh is flooded with yellow journalism.

"We are disturbed by the unregistered online newspapers. Is there any control measure in this regard?"

In response, Arafat said his ministry is working very closely on these issues.

"He (Shapon) rightly said several online portals have sprung up like frog umbrellas. They practice yellow journalism, not journalism," the state minister said.

Arafat said misinformation creates various problems in society.

He mentioned that journalists are saying that those who practice this type of yellow journalism have actually become a cause of loss for professional journalists.

"This demand is not only from members of parliament or politicians or people from other levels of society but from the journalist community itself," he said.

He said journalists claimed that there are as many unregistered online portals that are spreading misinformation, and doing bad news.

"To stop them, I gave an instruction a few days ago. I will send to BTRC the full list of well-established media, electronic media, print media, their registered portals, and also all the portals that have applied."

He mentioned that apart from this, there are many online portals. "We will request BTRC to close them all," Arafat added.