In the modern era, we find ourselves living simultaneously in two distinct worlds: The natural world and the digital world. With the rapid evolution of technology, information and communication technology (ICT) has become the backbone of global interaction, commerce, governance, and personal expression. As society increasingly relies on digital systems, it becomes crucial to establish a legal framework that addresses the complexities of the evolving digital landscape.
Core areas of the cyber world are its hardware, software, applications, and platforms. Today, we have vast opportunities to conduct most of our social, personal, and commercial interactions through digital platforms using different hardware (devices), software, applications, and platforms.
In Bangladesh, primarily, two dedicated national legislations have thus far regulated behaviour within cyberspace: The “Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006”, and the “Cyber Security Act, 2023.” These laws, alongside the 47 volumes of existing national legislation and numerous office orders and statutory regulatory orders, govern activities in the natural world but also play a role in defining behavior in and for the digital sphere.
Both the behavioural pattern and the unique characteristic of the cyber world is making “cyber jurisprudence” a critical area. Cyber jurisprudence mostly deals with the human behavioural pattern in the cyber world based on its impact in the real world. The law regulating the behaviour in cyberspace must have the properties to deal with a single issue from a dual perspective.
This necessary requirement is making cyber jurisprudence more comprehensive. Presently, the laws related to the cyber world are focused on regulating human behaviour impacting the practicalworld, using digital devices and communication as mentioned before. However, it remains silent on critical issues that are turning the cyber world into a haven for criminals, such as user identity, jurisdiction in litigation, and the integrity of users with their devices. Current laws are also ill-equipped to address emerging technologies like blockchain, big data algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
A common cyber crime in Bangladesh is how social media posts are often made using fake accounts to incite violence and stoke communal hatred. While big-picture crimes include the likes of the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist all the way back in 2016. Needless to say, any cybersecurity laws need to be multi-pronged, staying cognizant of the various dimensions of malpractice that the internet can enable.
Traditionally, law is defined as a system of rules created and enforced by social or governmental institutions, serving as a framework for maintaining order, resolving disputes, and protecting rights and liabilities. While this definition works well for laws governing the physical world, certain aspects of this legal framework are either missing or require adaptation for the digital world.
In the digital world, due to its inherently global nature, identifying a single enforcement authority, or state, for international cyber crime is often ineffective. Issues of rights and liabilities in cyber crime cases are also ambiguous. For instance, the owner of a digital social media platform may hold some liability for the actions of one user toward another, even without direct interaction between them. Similarly, one user may assert rights against another user without any direct contact or communication. This presents a unique challenge for law enforcement when addressing cyber crime.
Regulating cyber crime is essential to ensure cybersecurity, while an effective legal system and laws are in turn essential for regulating cyber crime. We must address this issue at an international level and develop a global legal framework.
In the meantime, fostering a sense of digital ethics, ideally by way of school curriculums focused on cybersecurity and etiquette, could be considered some pro-active measures which stand to instill responsible digital behaviour in our population.
Nazmus Saliheen is an Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court.