Cyber Security Act Needs Amendment

Last Monday, the government held a second consultation meeting at the Secretariat with print and electronic media stakeholders. The meeting reviewed the draft of the much discussed and criticized Cyber Security (Amendment) Act, 2026. Representatives of media groups and editors of leading newspapers shared their views. They feared the law could be misused and asked for more amendments.

They also demanded a media commission to handle these issues for the media. Mr. Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, chief editor of Daily Manabzamin, said Bangladesh will become a big prison if the law passes without amendments. He said the proposed law uses many words that have no clear definition. Without clear definitions, people can apply these rules in many different ways.

Mr. Chowdhury also questioned the mobile court provision. He said a mobile court that punishes a reporter right after a report would raise a big question about press freedom. He asked how this provision entered the draft, and who wrote it with what thinking. Mr. Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said media representatives felt worried after seeing the draft.

Mr. Anam said the law would create a big barrier for the media if it passes in this form. He said everyone is part of the cyber world today, and the media also runs online, multimedia and digital work. So the government should not make a law that harms the media while it punishes cyber criminals. After everyone spoke, Home Minister Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed said the proposal to take a court’s permission before any action or arrest against journalists is acceptable. He said the government will include it if the drafting committee recommends it.

Media worry about the cyber law is not new. The misuse of this law against the media drew strong criticism at home and abroad during the Awami League government. The aim of the law at that time was to stop the free expression of newspapers and the media. Many editors and journalists faced cases, arrests and jail, and fear spread across the media.

Some outlets kept publishing correct reports in spite of the fear, and the government misused the law against them. Daily Inqilab suffered the most. It published reports based on facts about corruption and terror by some ministers, law enforcers and Awami League leaders. Then the government filed cases against its editor Mr. A M M Bahauddin, the news editor, the chief reporter and the reporters concerned.

The government did not stop at cases. Men attacked the office at night, broke things and took journalists away under arrest. The government also shut down the publication of Inqilab. This was unmatched in the history of newspapers.

Editors and journalists of other papers also suffered. Well known photographer Mr. Shafiqul Islam Kazol spent a long time in jail after his arrest under this law. Writer Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed died in Kashimpur jail on 24 February 2021 after his arrest under this law. The misuse was so serious that the media had almost no freedom, and it slipped into self censorship out of fear. Anyone who told the truth, like Inqilab, faced the sword of this law.

After the fall of the fascist government of Ms. Hasina, the media felt free from that suffocation. Still, the media has worries about the new proposed law. Media stakeholders have told the government about these worries. We hope the government will listen and amend the law.

Needless to say, the media, the fourth pillar of the state, works for the good of the country and its people. Its main job is to call a spade a spade without bias. It acts as a safety valve for families, society, the state and the rulers. A law that silences the media harms everyone.

Today, people share their opinions far more widely through social media. But this often does not reflect healthy opinion. Many use social media to insult people and destroy their character. In their criticism, some lose their sense and turn dirty and obscene.

People also use Artificial Intelligence, the most talked about tool of this time, to turn truth into lies and lies into truth. Cyber criminals spread obscene photo cards, pictures and videos this way. They confuse ordinary people. Prime Minister Mr. Tarique Rahman and his family became terrible victims of this.

Ministers, MPs and other notable people also face false and defamatory information every day. A flood of misinformation and disinformation flows freely, and many people believe it without thinking. Propaganda on social media starts quarrels that ruin relations. Sometimes these quarrels turn into fights and violence, break the balance of families and society, and create unrest.

Teen gangs, drug dealers, gamblers and other antisocial groups run online groups and tempt young people to go astray. Cyber criminals leak the personal data of ministers, MPs and ordinary people. These crimes have become so terrible that they seem unstoppable. So a cyber security law is truly needed to control and end crime and to make people aware. But the government must take care that it does not become a barrier or a threat to press freedom and free expression.

The government must remember that social media platforms are a challenge for it, not a form of journalism. On social media, people can post information without checking or editing it. The media has no such freedom, because it follows rules and carries responsibility when it publishes news. So the government must think seriously about keeping the cyber law from blocking press freedom.

Prime Minister Mr. Tarique Rahman believes in freedom of expression, and he set examples of this long ago. He says people should face false information with true information. At last Monday’s cabinet meeting, he told members of all ministries to do so. This directive recognizes freedom of expression.

Home Minister Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed said the government never wanted to make a cyber law that targets the media, and it does not want any journalist to become a victim. He said the government also does not want the law to be misused. He said the government wants a law that protects people at every level of society. He said people who commit crimes in cyberspace spread the harm like an infectious disease, and the country must overcome it.

We welcome this attitude of the government. But it must not be mere words. We want the government to put it into practice.