Digital security ACT: Cases filed mostly out of political motivation

Journalists and citizens from various walks of society were victimised the most by the Digitial Security Act 2018 for voicing their opinions on digital platforms, speakers said at a webinar yesterday.

According to a study of the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), who hosted the webinar, journalists were accused in 9.25 percent of all DSA cases from January 1, 2020, to January 30, 2022.

CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman, who moderated the webinar, said the number of journalists arrested is disproportionately higher compared to the total number of arrestees.

The analysis also stated that most of the complaints were not filed by those affected directly and instead by politically motivated people.

The DSA has numerous issues, such as the punishment stipulated in the clauses being disproportionate to the crime and how no warrant is required to make arrests under the act, and is in need of immediate reform, the speakers said.

CGS Chairman Monjur Ahmed Choudhury said Bangladesh's cyberspace is becoming a dangerous minefield, where people are wary of speaking their minds.

However, SM Rezaul Karim, minister of fisheries and livestock, opined the country needs such a law to prevent crimes occurring in the virtual world, adding the DSA is not making people fearful of posting their opinions online.

The minister stated that this act is the only one capable of deterring and punishing defamation on digital platforms and he himself was a victim of online harassment.

But he also agreed that the clauses being abused need to be investigated.

Shirin Akhter, lawmaker and the general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, said the DSA should not be abolished, but its loopholes need to be identified.

She said the cases have some non-bailable offences, which should be reformed.

"The DSA is not being used to punish every government critic, and journalists should not be afraid of writing the truth."

Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University said the act's clauses are essentially divided into two parts-- one is more technical and protects against computer-related offences such as hacking, while the second and more controversial part are the clauses that punish "speech offences".

He said the clauses related to speech offence need to be re-examined as the wordings are too vague and broad, making them prone to misinterpretation.

Jyotirmoy Barua said most of the cases under the DSA are being filed by third parties, not the claimants. "However, this goes against the existing criminal law policy, where it is stated that defamation cases need to be filed by a claimant."

Zahirul Alam, Head of News of television channel NTV, and former DUCSU VP Nurul Haque Nur also spoke at the event titled "The Digital Security Act 2018: Who are the Real Victims?"

News Courtesy:

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/digital-security-act-journos-general-citizens-mostly-targeted-2964651

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