Bangladesh’s score in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters without Borders is now lower than Afghanistan and Myanmar.
Since the index was first published in 2002, Bangladesh has always fallen in the lowest quartile for press freedoms so this is not a new concern. However, the trend is worsening as the country is now ranked 146th lowest out of 180, its worst ever position.
While Bangladesh still has cases of unpunished acts of violence against journalists, its worsening score can largely be attributed to the failure of successive governments to encourage media pluralism and independence, and the worrying escalation of laws seeking to control freedom of expression.
One well-known example arises from the serious impediments to freedom of speech posed by draconian provisions contained in the Information and Communications Technology Act first brought in by the BNP in 2006 and enhanced by the AL government in 2013. These have allowed people to be arrested and imprisoned for disseminating or even merely reading material disapproving of the government.
There is no place for such restrictions in a democracy. Unfortunately, we have repeatedly seen spurious justifications of national security and social cohesion being used to escalate the state’s powers over citizens freedoms of thought and expression.
Lawmakers and their advisers need to change their mindset from seeing media as something to be controlled to one that prioritises their duty to uphold constitutional rights to free expression.
A free media not only plays the crucial role of informing the electorate and ensuring accountability, but is a public good to be promoted.