Dhaka //

The government has made changes to the approved draft of the Cyber ​​Security Ordinance. The controversial cyber bullying provision has been removed from the new draft. However, a provision for punishment for propaganda against the national flag or national anthem has been added. In addition, a provision has been made for arrest without a warrant in cases of illegal entry or hacking.

On December 24, the draft of the Cyber ​​Security Ordinance, 2024, was approved at the meeting of the Advisory Council of the interim government. The government said that this ordinance will protect cyberspace and at the same time the freedom of the media.

But the approved draft was also widely criticized. There was a provision in Section 25 called cyber bullying. That is, it was a punishable offense to intimidate, threaten or harass any person or group on social media platforms, websites or cyberspace, or to damage the reputation or mental health of a person by spreading false or harmful information, insulting messages, abuse, rumors or defamatory content.

Various sections of civil society opposed this provision, saying that it would create an opportunity to violate freedom of speech. This time, ‘cyberbullying’ has been omitted. However, the context of sexual harassment has been added.

The previous Digital Security Act and Cyber ​​Security Act had provisions for punishment for insulting the national flag and anthem. But it was omitted in the approved draft. Although it has been added in the new draft, it has been stated that any hateful propaganda or campaign against the national flag and national anthem through digital or electronic means will be punishable with 3 years of imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 3 million taka, or both.

Other notable changes include the inclusion of civil society representatives in the National Cyber ​​Security Council.

Hiding one’s identity for fraud, distorting someone’s national identity card, or presenting someone else’s information as one’s own will be considered cyber terrorism. Section 27 also includes the issue of ethnic hatred and hatred along with religious hatred.

In addition, Section 8 of the draft ordinance gives the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) the power to request content blocking. There is also criticism of this section. The section has been kept the same, but a new addition has been made stating that the government will publish the content that will be blocked in the public interest.

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