Khairul Alam: The government decided to rewrite the Digital Security Act (DSA), remove some strict provisions such as jail terms for defamation, and rename the law the Cyber Security Act (CSA) the Justice Minister Anisul Haque said today ( 7 August ).
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the new bill in principle. He told reporters in his office at the Bangladesh secretariat that there would be no prison sentence for defamation in the cyber security law.
Haq said those convicted under the proposed social security law would only be required to pay fines rather than serve prison terms on defamation charges, describing the ruling as a “significant change.”
“Article 29 (of the DSA) is repealed. The only sanction is a fine, or be punished with imprisonment for three to six months in case of non-payment. The maximum penalty in this regard will be a fine of not more than Taka 25 lakh “, said.
Haq said the proposed CSA proposed a prison sentence of two years instead of the five years stipulated in Section 28 of the DSA that relates to posting or transmitting information on a website or in any electronic format that harms the religious values or sentiments.
He said that people who will be charged under this particular section can also benefit from court bail, while the DSA has made the charges unavailable on bail.
The minister added that the new law is expected to pass through Parliament along with several other amendments to the existing DSA. Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Mahboob Hussein confirmed cabinet approval to reformulate the law.
But he said the proposed law would prevent defendants from being granted bail for certain specific charges under four different sections.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the bill will be presented again to the Cabinet of Ministers for final approval after exhausting the audit process at the Ministry of Justice.