Coercive Digital Security Act sections must be repealed

EDITORIAL

AT LEAST 63 people have been arrested, as New Age reported on Tuesday, under the Digital Security Act, which was signed into law on October 8, 2018. The arrested include online and cultural activists and journalists mostly on charge of activities on social networking sites, especially Facebook and YouTube, against ranking dignitaries and the government. The Rapid Acton Battalion is reported to have arrested 37 people, the cyber security and crime division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Police Bureau of Investigation 15 people and the Criminal Investigation Department 11 people. The charges are mostly posting ‘maligning’ comments, giving out ‘fake information’, ‘misinformation’ and ‘distorted information’, posting ‘doctored photographs’, making ‘derogatory’ remarks, circulating ‘negative’ contents and the like. 

While there is no arguing that no one has the right to post ‘maligning’ comments, give out ‘fake information’ or ‘distorted information’, make ‘derogatory’ remarks or post ‘doctored’ photographs — which should be dealt with accordingly to keep public order — what comes to be worrying is that many of them are reported to have been arrested for being critical of the government and its action. The situation warrants an impartial investigation of the cases to ensure justice as being critical of the government or its actions and decisions can easily construed as ‘derogatory’ and ‘maligning.’

The application of the Digital Security Act also seems to be partisan in that it has largely not been applied to cases where people gave out misinformation or made derogatory comments about people or groups that are outside the ruling sphere. Information activists allege that most of the arrested people were linked to opposition political parties or ideologies. 

The Facebook authorities identified more than a dozen pages, which look like independent news outlets, giving out contents against opposition views and ideologies. In such cases, the law does not appear to have been applied. The application of the Digital Security Act appears to have an underlying proposition which was typical of its precursor, the Information and Communications Technology Act, especially its Section 57. Between 2013 and April 2018, the police are reported to have submitted 1,271 charge sheets against people who include teachers and pro-opposition activists. In view of  all this, while the cases that have been filed under the Digital Security Act and the people arrested under the act warrant a judicious enforcement of the law, the government should repeal the controversial clauses that the Editors’ Council has exception to.

The Editors’ Council is opposed to nine sections of the Digital Security Act that could practically threaten the freedom of expression and of the media as they are opposed to the basic practice of democracy and the fundamental principles of journalism. The sections, as the council says, would also expose to threat free thinking and the expression of thoughts in the whole of digital sphere. The government, under the circumstances, must repeal the sections in the law that are constraining for the freedom of expression and, thereby, eliminate any space for their misuse or abuse. 

• Courtesy: New Age /Jan 16, 2019