Shawdesh Desk:

Bangladesh government has decided to replace the title of the Digital Security Act 2018 with Cyber Security Act 2023 with major changes in several sections.

The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting.

Law minister Anisul Huq revealed the decision of the cabinet meeting while talking to reporters after attending the meeting.

Addressing a press briefing at the secretariat in Dhaka, the minister said that the proposed new law, Cyber Security Act 2023, would incorporate almost all the provisions of Digital Security Act with some changes.

Digital Security Act would be repelled when the proposed law would come into effect and the proceedings of the DSA cases would happen under the new law, he said.

At a dialogue on May 21, the law minister conveyed the decision, adding that a special high-power committee would be formed soon to review all existing complaints filed under the Digital Security Act.

Earlier at the dialogue, the human rights officer at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who joined virtually from Geneva, reportedly criticised the law and expressed concern over several provisions of the DSA, saying that the provisions are ‘vague’ and ‘overboard’ and fail to meet international standards.

These provisions — sections 21, 8, 27, 31 and 32 — give scope for arbitrary application of the law and, therefore, threaten freedom of expression and the press. Similar criticisms have come from many local and international rights organisations and experts ever since the law came into effect in 2018.

After formulating the DSA, different quarters including journalists, rights activists, civic groups and international organisations had been demanding to scrap the law terming it a draconian one.

They had been alleging that the law was being abused and misused to suppress freedom of speech and media freedom.