Govt decides to cancel Cyber Security Act

The interim government has decided in principle to cancel the widely condemned Cyber Security Act (CSA).

The decision came at a meeting of the Advisory Council chaired by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his Tejgaon office in the city on Thursday (November 7).

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan informed the media after the meeting.

In last week, Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Adviser Nahid Islam said the CSA would be repealed within a week. 

Earlier, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul also said that this law must be repealed. “That is the direction we [the law ministry] will follow. We will decide after consulting with experts whether to repeal the entire law or only the parts concerning 'speech offences' (freedom of expression). However, this law will definitely be repealed.”

He added, “When this law is repealed and a new law is enacted, the approach will be to provide protection and safeguard citizens. There will definitely be protections for women, children, and sensitive issues in society.”

As of 30 September, a total of 5,818 cases filed under the CSA and its predecessors - the Information and Communication Technology Act and the Digital Security Act (DSA) - were pending in the country's eight cyber tribunals.

After the interim government took over, many accused in cases filed under the draconian laws were granted bail and efforts are being made to repeal such laws.

The fallen AL regime is accused of using the ICT Act, the DSA and the CSA to crack down on journalists, political opponents and other dissidents.