The government has decided to repeal the controversial Cyber Security Act-2023 enacted by the ousted Awami League government.
The council of advisers at its meeting on Thursday approved in principle the draft of the Cyber Security Act (Repeal) Ordinance - 2024.
The meeting was held at Chief Adviser's Office in Dhaka's Tejgaon with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
About the outcomes of the meeting, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said the fascist Awami League government transformed the Digital Security Act into the Cyber Security Act last year but its objectives were the same.
“Its aim was to oppress the voices of people and dissident voices. And you know how many people were harassed using the Digital Security Act,” he told a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy.
Mentioning that many people from minority communities were harassed using the act, Alam said the council of advisers at its meeting has decided to repeal the Cyber Security Act.
After the repeal of the Cyber Security Act, he said a new law will be formulated to ensure the safety of vulnerable groups including women and children, who use the cyber space, and to protect the financial institutions, including banks.
After a meeting of the council of advisers last week, Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Adviser Nahid Islam said the CSA would be repealed within a week.
“All the cases filed under this law will be withdrawn,” he said.
Not only CSA but all such laws that create barriers to the expression of opinion are being reviewed, he added.
Earlier, on 3 October, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said that this law must be repealed.
“That is the direction we will follow. We will decide after consulting with experts whether to repeal the entire law or only the parts concerning ‘speech offences’ (freedom of expression). However, this law will definitely be repealed.”
He added, “When this law is repealed and a new law is enacted, the approach will be to provide protection and safeguard citizens. There will definitely be protections for women, children, and sensitive issues in society.”
In 2018, the controversial Digital Security Act was enacted by the Awami League–led government.
Amid severe criticism, the Digital Security Act was repealed in 2023 and replaced by the Cyber Security Act.
However, there is a lot of controversy and criticism about it. Objections to this law were raised from various levels, including journalists.
Human rights activists across the country and abroad have criticised the CSA as a tool for the AL regime to crack down on descent on online platforms and restrict freedom of expression.
As of August, a total of 5,818 cases filed under the CSA and its predecessors - the Information and Communication Technology Act and the Digital Security Act (DSA) - were pending in the country's eight cyber tribunals, according to a law ministry press release issued on 30 September.
Currently, there are a total of 1,340 cases related to speech offences – of which, 461 cases are being probed by the investigating agencies and 879 cases are pending in the eight tribunals across the country.
Among these cases, cases filed over the expression of free speech on digital platforms are classified as ‘speech offences’ and those over fraud through computer hacking or other digital devices are classified as ‘computer offences.’
Among those related to speech offences, 279 cases are pending under the ICT Act, 786 under the DSA, and 275 cases under the CSA, according to the press release.
The release further said the government has decided to quickly withdraw the 870 speech offence cases through coordination between the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The investigating officers were also instructed to quickly submit their final reports in the 461 such cases for quick disposal.
After the interim government took over, many accused in cases filed under the draconian laws were granted bail and efforts are being made to repeal such laws.
The ousted AL government is accused of using the ICT Act, the DSA and the CSA to crack down on journalists, political opponents and other dissidents.
The CSA's original predecessor, the ICT Act was introduced in 2006 during the regime of the four-party alliance.
During the AL-led government, the ICT Act was amended and a more stringent version of it - the Digital Security Act 2018 - was enacted.
Under Article 32 of the DSA, cases were filed against those with opposing views and news online under the non-bailable section.
The United States, the European Union, and other human rights organisations have called for repealing Article 32 of the DSA.
In the face of pressure, the Awami League government repealed the law and enacted the Cyber Security Act 2023.
The council of advisers also took a decision to prepare documentation on the expenditure of ‘Mujib Year.’
Alam said a list will be prepared on how the ministries spent money and the sectors of expenditures marking the Mujib Year.
On the occasion, the press secretary said, the money was spent from not only public exchequer but many private companies were forced to spend money.
“Many were forced to set up Mujib Corners and many were compelled to build sculptures of Mujib. There was an excitement to spend money of people,” he said, adding that the documentation would be prepared to know how much money was wasted on Mujib Year.
The council of advisers discussed the draft of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Use (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 and decided to form a high-power committee, headed by Finance Adviser Saleh Uddin Ahmed, he said.
Citing estimates that about 35 percent people of the country smoke tobacco, the press secretary said smoking of tobacco causes harm to public health and at the same time, a big portion of revenue comes from tobacco sector.
Considering all aspects, the committee will consider the tobacco control law afresh, he said.
The advisers, Alam said, also decided to update the drugs list of Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL), a state-owned Pharmaceuticals Company in Bangladesh.
He said essential drugs is a very important issue all over the world and that is why they discussed how the list of essential drugs can be extended to give protection to the poor people who are being affected due to high price of medicines.
A taskforce will be formed soon in this regard and it will sit together with all stakeholders concerned, he added.
Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretaries Abul Kalam Azad Majumder and Apurba Jahangir were present at the press briefing.
