Press Freedom in Bangladesh: Lessons from the Digital Security Act – Bengali

Until its repeal in 2023, Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act was used against journalists for their reporting and criticism online. Now, draft amendments to Bangladesh’s Cyber Security Act would bring back some of the same provisions.

The amendments would reintroduce criminal defamation and criminalise “rumour” and “misinformation” online, exposing journalists to prison sentences of up to 10 years.

The Clooney Foundation for Justice and the Centre for Governance Studies analysed 222 cases involving 396 journalists prosecuted under the previous law. Our TrialWatch team exposed how journalists were targeted under loosely defined offenses like defamation, spreading misinformation and offensive speech.

Re-introducing these provisions would threaten press freedom in Bangladesh and violate the government’s commitments under international law. The government should withdraw the proposed amendments.

Our report, Press Freedom in Bangladesh: Lessons from the Digital Security Act, is now available in Bengali.