255 journalists sued under DSA for their work: CGS
At least 451 journalists were sued under the Digital Security Act (DSA) since its inception and 255 of them were sued for their journalistic reports, according to a research paper by Centre for Governance Studies (CGS).
At least 97 of those journalists -- 50 working for outlets outside the capital -- were arrested, said the research paper unveiled today.
Among the accused, 209 journalists are associated with national-level media and 197 with regional media outlets.
The CGS found that at least 4,520 people have been charged in 1,436 cases filed between October 2018 and September 2023.
"We have data regarding 1,534 individuals' professions," said Prof Ali Riaz, distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University, while presenting the findings of the paper "The Ordeal: Five years of the Digital Security Act".
Online media journalists from outside Dhaka form the largest group of journalists -- 113 -- sued under the DSA.
"Journalists outside of Dhaka are the most vulnerable," said Prof Riaz.
Journalists have been accused under the DSA by 202 people. Among the accusers, 124 are "aggrieved parties", while 61 were individuals who had not been directly impacted by the news or any other actions of these journalists.
Journalists make up a third of those prosecuted, while politicians constitute another third.
At least 495 politicians were sued under the DSA and at least a quarter of those arrested under the law are politicians, according to the research.
DSA was wholly abused as a tool of political repression, found the researchers.
"The share of politicians among the arrestees has increased compared to our previous study period (October 2018 – August 2022), when it was 21.75 percent," it said, meaning disproportionately more politicians were arrested last year prior to the elections.
At least 28 minors were sued under the DSA and 22 of them were arrested, found CGS.
Out of the total, 2,328 people were sued in 908 cases filed because of Facebook posts made by users, found the research.
"While there are instances of victims of wrongdoing, including sexual harassment, bullying, invasion of privacy, a significant number of complaints have been filed by individuals alleging defamation of other individuals," stated the study.
"Give bail to all arrested under DSA," urged Prof Riaz, adding that that since the law itself has been replaced by the Cyber Security Act last year, the "offences" should not logically still be valid.
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