Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has demanded that the government scrap the draft Digital, Social Media, and OTT Platform Regulation and completely overhaul it as the current iteration is full of errors.
The corruption watchdog also urged the authorities to take time and consult with all stakeholders before coming up with such regulations, claiming the draft is in conflict with the constitution.
The draft of the regulation was recently published by the BTRC on its website for opinions from public and organizational stakeholders.
During a press conference on Sunday, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) prepared the regulation to make online platforms risk-free, but they must keep in mind that regulations should not violate the constitutional rights of the people.
“These regulations need to do two things: provide users with a risk-free online environment, and protect the right to express and personal secrecy,” he added.
TIB said the draft should be deferred by two years to allow companies to clearly understand the legal requirements and update their internal processes and policies to ensure compliance without technically being in violation.
This cooling-off period is essential for BTRC, which needs time to modernize its system and introduce processes to ensure smooth implementation, TIB said in a letter to the BTRC.
The Regulation for Digital, Social Media and OTT Platforms, 2021 aims to make social media and tech companies liable for the online activities of their users.
Various rights organizations, both international and local as well as corruption watchdogs, have already submitted written complaints over some of the provisions and requested the government amend the issues in the final version of the regulation.
Global Network Initiative (GNI), a collective whose members include Meta, Microsoft, Uber, Zoom, Telenor Group, Yahoo, Google, Nokia, Vodafone, Verizon, Human Rights Watch, Internet Freedom Foundation, Global Forum for Media Development, Wikimedia, Committee to Protect Journalists and others, sent a letter to BTRC recently.
In the letter, GNI appreciated the BTRC’s efforts but said such a regulation would put undue pressure on intermediaries [platforms] to remove content and share access to user data, and have alarming effects on individual speakers.
The collective also expressed concern over the broad scope of the bill, from the companies and content it covers, to the significant, often-vaguely defined obligations and enforcement authorities, in potential “traceability” and data sharing provisions that may infringe on privacy rights.
“Such a regulatory environment undermines the otherwise positive aims of the draft regulation, failing to provide sufficient guidance to intermediaries tasked with implementing the law to ascertain which sort of expressions are properly restricted and which are not,” GNI added.
