Proposed Cyber Security Act Amendments Draw Sharp Criticism Over Free Speech Risks

At a glance
- A panel discussion on proposed amendments to Bangladesh’s Cyber Security Act was held on 10 October at Zahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall, National Press Club, focusing on free speech and civil rights.

• The discussion raised concerns that the proposed changes could weaken civil liberties and enable greater state control over public expression.
• Dr Nabila Idris, an academic and former member of the National Human Rights Commission and the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, delivered the keynote address.
• Idris described the proposed law as a mechanism to control freedom of speech by deciding “who gets to speak and who does not.”
• She rejected what she called a paternalistic approach to expression, saying, “The state is not our parent.”
• Idris argued that allegedly indecent expression does not justify harsh state action or violence against citizens.
• She warned that changes to the definition of defamation, or maanhani, could erode the legal principle that truth is a defence.
• Apurba Jahangir, executive editor of OFFSCRPT, called the proposed amendments “an egoistic approach” and warned that passing them could set a dangerous precedent.
• Referring to the Daily Waada controversy involving an article on the State Minister for Women’s Rights, Idris said the state should not harass a publication even if its journalism is flawed.
• The panel, attended by political figures including Akhter Hossain, Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan Monju, Sarwar Tushar and Advocate Jahirul Islam Musa, stressed the need to protect democratic expression from restrictive legal frameworks.