DSA won't be scrapped but will be amended by Sep: Law minister

Rather than revoking it, the government is working on amending the much-talked-about Digital Security Act (DSA) by September this year, and a special committee has been set up to this end, according to the law minister.

"I want to say categorically that the DSA will not be repealed, but some amendments will be made to the issues that are being discussed," Minister Anisul Huq told journalists following a discussion on World Press Freedom Day.

The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) organised the programme, "Shaping a Future of Rights", at its office in the capital on Wednesday.

Anisul Huq said the government has received a technical note from the UN Human Rights Council with suggestions to abolish some clauses and amend other clauses in the law.

"We are working on that. Although we have differences of opinion, we will make the necessary amendments within the tenure of this government – by September," he said.

In June last year, the UN sent the Bangladesh government some observations on the law.

Earlier, at a discussion at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the Editors' Council demanded that the law not be used against journalists and advocates of free expression.

In this regard, the law minister said there are many clauses in the existing laws to ensure that journalists get protection.

He said at present a case is not directly accepted under the DSA. When a complaint is filed, it is first sent to a special cell, after which a case is recorded in court after scrutiny. The cell has been instructed accordingly so that journalists are not arrested unnecessarily.

"There has been some misuse and abuse since the enactment of this Act, which the government and I are working to reduce," he further said.

Anisul Huq said by removing the problems in the law, it will be transformed into a common law. Stating that the DSA was not enacted to take away the freedom of the media, he said it was done to ensure cyber security.

The minister said thousands of online, print, and electronic media outlets have sprung in the country during this government's tenure, and they are running independently.

After the event, a journalist referred to the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index 2023 released on Wednesday, in which Bangladesh ranked 163 out of 180 countries – a few notches below even Afghanistan. The minister was asked how he could say the freedom of the media has been ensured during the tenure of this government.

The law minister expressed his astonishment about Bangladesh's ranking being lower than that of Afghanistan. He said, "There are questions about those who published this index. In no way will the position of Bangladesh be worse than that of Afghanistan."

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman moderated the discussion.

Swedish Ambassador Alexandra Berg von Linde, National Human Rights Commission Chairman Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Professor Gitiara Nasreen of mass communication and journalism at Dhaka University, lawyer and human rights activist Jyotirmoy Barua, UN Resident Representative Gwyn Lewis, and Dhaka Tribune Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad, among others, spoke at the programme.