Bangladeshi cabinet approves amendments to controversial Digital Security Act

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA): The Bangladeshi government decided to amend the controversial Digital Security Act on Monday, renaming it the Cyber Security Act and removing the jail sentence for defamation after the journalist fraternity and human rights groups criticized it for being used to silence opposition voices.

“We have transferred the technical sections of the existing act to the new draft law, Cyber Security Act 2023. But we have introduced amendments to prevent abuse and misuse of the law,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told Anadolu.

“We have made some major amendments to the draft law. For example, in a defamation case, we kept only fines instead of jail term. In some other sections of the act that did not have bail options, we made those bailable in the law,” he explained.

Later, at a press conference, he said the only penalty for defamation under the proposed act is fine, “but if the fine is not paid, there will of course be jail time of three to six months, depending on the fine amount.”

The pending cases under the existing act will be transferred and decided under the new act once it is enforced, he added.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk recently said the act is being misused to arrest, harass, and intimidate journalists and human rights defenders, as well as to muzzle critical voices online.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has accused the government of using the act against its political opponents.

According to Law Ministry records, over 7,000 cases have been filed across the country since the law was enacted on Oct. 1, 2018, just days before the 11th general elections in the country.

Last month, a high-level US delegation led by Uzra Zeya, under-secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights, and Eamon Gilmore, EU special representative for human rights, expressed concern about the act and media environment in Bangladesh during a visit to Dhaka.