The previous government’s authoritarian chokehold over press freedom dealt irreparable damage to the very idea of journalism in Bangladesh. On the one hand, it robbed citizens of their right to be informed; on the other, the overt self-censorship on the part of the media led to a gradual loss of trust from the wider public.
Through draconian laws such as the Digital Security Act (later amended to the Cyber Security Act) and a general sense of antagonism towards the press, the previous Awami League government all but laid the groundwork for the decimated state of press freedom in Bangladesh, this much is incontrovertible.
To say that the interim government has the responsibility of helping the press undo this decade and a half worth of damage would be an understatement. To that end, the recent threats against several media outlets do little to persuade us that the status quo would be changing any time soon, despite officials from the current administration assuring us of the government’s stance on the importance of media freedom to any working democracy.
While the media itself has the undeniable duty to conduct itself professionally and present the facts as they are, the past 15 years of gag laws silencing the press has had an undeniable effect on the sector both economically and at a cultural level. Yes, the onus is on the press to regain its integrity, but that cannot be ensured until and unless the government of the day respects the right of the citizen to be informed.
To this end, the duty falls on the interim government to make certain that no future government could ever attack the freedom of the press as we saw the previous Awami League government did.