Bangladesh: Government foreshadows replacement of notorious Digital Security Act

Bangladeshi authorities have announced an intention to replace the nation's much-criticised draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) with a revised Cyber Security Act due for introduction in September. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges Bangladesh's leaders to ensure any future legislation respects and defends press freedom, not criminalises it.

Bangladesh's Law Minister Anisul Huq speaks at a press conference in June 2023. Credit: Twitter

On August 7, Law Minister Anisul Huq announcedhis government's intention to replace the DSA with a revised Cyber Security Act (CSA) of 2023. Huq claimed the new law would revise or replace several sections of the DSA to address the 'misuse' of the law to target government critics and media workers.

Huq claimsthe law will significantly reduce penalties for defamation charges and reduce potential imprisonment to fines. Offences seen to impactcyber or national security have largely remained unchanged, with hacking targeted through the introduction of a maximum sentence of 14 years, a maximum fine of approximately USD 91,000 or both. Provisions for repeat offences have also been removed.

The announcement came hours after a cabinet meeting chaired by Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The new CSA will be placed before Parliament for approval in September.

The DSA, introduced in 2018, is widely criticisedfor the arrests, harassment and intimidation of journalists, media workers, and other human rights defenders. On its inception, freedom of expression organisation Article 19 condemned the DSA as uncompliant with international human rights standards. The advocacy organisation identified deep flaws within the act's design, including overly broad requirements and definitions for charges, extreme extra-territorial powers, and exceptional powers granted to the act's Digital Security Agency.

According to DSA Tracker, an online database monitoring the use of the act, at least 391 journalists and media workers have been chargedunder the act since 2018. Coverage of government policies, corruption allegations, or illegal business practices, have been met with legal retributionthrough the act by authorities and non-government actors alike. In its annual South Asia Press Freedom Report (SAPFR), the IFJ could verify the arrests of five journalists under the DSA from May 2022 until April 2023.

In the past month alone, Daily Phulki editor Nazmus Shakib and Amader Natun Samay editor and Savar correspondent Mohammad Imdadul Haque were chargedunder defamation provisions on July 27 after the Daily Phulki 'mistakenly' publishing a picture of Prime Minister Hasina concerning the resignation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, despite Haque not working for the newspaper. On July 13, RTV reporter Adhora Yeasmein was suedunder three sections of the DSA after reporting on alleged illicit activities conducted by a religious group.

The IFJ said: "While the government's intentions to reform the problematic Digital Security Act are welcomed, we remain concerned at the PSA's potential to recreate the repression seen under its predecessor. If Bangladeshi authorities wish to reduce the harm of frivolous and dangerous legal action against the media, then this legislation must centre press freedom concerns."