The United States (US) has welcomed the reports that Bangladesh’s cabinet has decided to replace the Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA).
"As we’ve previously stated, the Digital Security Act has been used to arrest, detain, and silence critics. We welcome the Bangladeshi government’s long-stated commitment to reform the law, to protect freedom of expression, and we encourage the government of Bangladesh to give all stakeholders an opportunity to review and provide input to the new draft Cyber Security Act to ensure it meets international standards,” said Department of State's spokesperson Matthew Millar.
He made the comment while replying to a question at the daily press briefing in Washington on Monday.
Replying to a question on the return of the convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the spokesperson said the state department does not comment on extradition matters.
Rashed Chowdhury is currently living in the US.
On August 15, 1975, Bangabandhu was assassinated along with his family members at Dhanmondi 32.
His daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, survived as they were abroad at the time. Sheikh Hasina has now achieved the feat of being the longest-serving prime minister of Bangladesh.
The government of Bangladesh has decided to scrap the highly debated Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018, which was enacted to abolish the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 (amended in 2013).
The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday morning.
The meeting gave its nod to the draft Cyber Security Act (CSA) 2023, a revised version of the DSA the government had promised to stop misuse.
One of the important changes in the new law is the provision of non-bailable imprisonment and fines in defamation cases. It proposes to remove the provision of jail and keep only the provision of a fine.
The provisions for cyber security which were in the DSA have been kept intact in the proposed law.
However, many clauses have been changed. According to the new law, there will be a Cyber Security Agency. In addition, the previous law had more prison provisions. The new law has kept the fines higher.
