![]() ![]() The DSA was preceded by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act 2006 (later amended in 2013). The DSA, while of recent vintage, is not the first law to curb online freedom of expression in Bangladesh. The Digital Security Act’s Illiberal Origins The law and its consequences also reveal a lot about the country’s political trajectory. The resultant curbs on the freedom of expression in Bangladesh have done significant damage to the little semblance of democracy that is left in the country, especially after the democratic setbacks posed by two controversial elections in 20. The government’s use of the law has stepped up the fight against its critics to an unprecedented level. While previous governments have used laws on the books to squelch dissent, these efforts have now reached their zenith with the DSA. His research interests are democratization, violent extremism, political Islam, South Asian politics, and Bangladeshi politics. The law became so repressive that, in May 2020, the Editors’ Council remarked, “our fear is now a nightmare-reality for the mass media.”Īli Riaz is a distinguished professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University and a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council. While cabinet ministers met the editors and assured them that it would not be abused, such promises proved to be empty gestures. The Editors’ Council, the apex body comprising Bangladesh’s leading newspaper editors, protested and demanded that the government scrap nine sections of the law. ![]() Even before the law was passed by parliament, human rights activists and organizations criticized it as a threat to freedom of expression. The law, which came into force on October 1, 2018, has become the government’s and ruling party activists’ preferred weapon to muzzle critics and stymie their freedom of expression, especially in cyberspace. ![]() These cases have one thing in common: all were filed under Bangladesh’s 2018 Digital Security Act (DSA). Several minors in the country also have been arrested for social media activity and have been sent to juvenile corrections centers. And farmer Abu Zaman is on the run following accusations that he influenced the posting of false information on Facebook, even though he does not own a smartphone. On November 8, 2021, a tribunal framed charges against journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol for circulating “objectionable” information about ruling party leaders. Author and social activist Mushtaq Ahmed died in a Bangladeshi jail on February 25, 2021, after being detained and allegedly tortured for social media posts critical of the government. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |