Fake CNN TV in Bangladesh involved in cybercrime

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For decades, Cable News Network, which claims itself to be “world news leader” is known to most of the people around the world. CNN is a multinational news-based pay television channel headquartered in Atlanta. It is owned by CNN Worldwide, a unit of the WarnerMedia News & Sports division of AT&T’s WarnerMedia. This channel was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel. Upon its launch in 1980, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.  

As of September 2018, CNN has 90.1 million television households as subscribers (97.7 percent of households with cable) in the United States. In 2019, CNN ranked third in viewership among cable news networks, behind Fox News and MSNBC, averaging 972,000 viewers. CNN ranks 14th among all basic cable networks.

The network is known for its dramatic live coverage of breaking news, some of which has drawn criticism as overly sensationalistic, and for its efforts to be nonpartisan, which have led to accusations of false balance.

Globally, CNN programming has aired through CNN International, seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories; since May 2019 however, the US domestic version has absorbed international news coverage in order to streamline programming expenses. The American version, sometimes referred to as CNN (US), is also available in Canada, some islands of the Caribbean and in Japan, where it was first broadcast on CNNj in 2003, with simultaneous translation in Japanese.

The fake CNN in Bangladesh

Taking undue advantage of the global fame of CNN, a group of unscrupulous individuals and non-journalists have illegally launched an IP TV channel named ‘CNN Bangla TV’, and according to information, members of this fake CNN are falsely claiming to be Bangla segment of CNN. Most importantly, possibly to utter surprise and dismay of Jeff Zucker, Brad Ferrer, Ken Jautz, Andrew Morse, Michael Bass and other top executives of CNN, those behind its fake version in Bangla are also claiming their headquarters to be in Atlanta, USA, while they do not have any real office in Bangladesh.

According to investigative journalists of Blitz, CNN Bangla TV has a website, which shows 107 Motijheel [a commercial area in Dhaka] as its head office, while it contains no contact number or email address. On the website, CNN Bangla TV claims it to be the “First TV channel in Bangladesh broadcasting [via] satellite, fiber and VOD/OTT, covering every country of [in] the world”. But in reality, according to the Information Ministry or Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), this channel does not have any broadcast license. This fake channel is not using any transponder on Bangabandhu Satellite or any other foreign satellites.

CNN Bangla TV is running through a channel on YouTube too! According to information available on its YouTube channel, CNN Bangla channel was launched on April 17, 2019 and it false claims to be operating from Singapore.

According to credible sources, some unscrupulous individuals are continuing numerous forms of criminal activities such as blackmailing, extortion and cybercrime using the name of CNN Bangla TV.

Cable News Network authorities should file complaint against this fake CNN channel with the Bangladesh authorities, as well as YouTube, as it is damaging reputation of the global news channel.

Mushroom growth of illegal IP TV in Bangladesh

For the past few years, hundreds of IP TVs are having mushroom growth, most of which not only are involved into numerous forms of criminal activities, these channels also are involved into anti-Bangladesh activities.

Information Ministry and BTRC need to take immediate action against these dubious IP TVs, while the cyber crime unit of Bangladesh Police should also initiate necessary steps against these illegal broadcast entities.

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