Digital Security Bill approved incorporating section 57

The cabinet on Monday gave final approval to the draft Digital Security Bill 2018 incorporating controversial section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006, which, many feared, would curb the freedom of expression.
The draft of the new law stipulates maximum 14 years of imprisonment and Tk 1 crore in fine for spreading propaganda against the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 1971 Liberation War through electronic media or any other digital device, cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told a press briefing at the secretariat after the cabinet meeting. 
He said that the maximum punishment was also proposed for ‘cyber-terrorism’ affecting the country’s integrity and sovereignty.
The draft proposes setting up an 11-member Digital Security Council, to be led by the prime minister.
The Information and Communication Technology Division placed the draft in the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her Tejgaon office amidst outcries from the journalist community to abolish the section 57 having wider scope of interpretation, under which many, including journalists, were prosecuted for Facebook posts and news reports. 
The cabinet secretary said that sections 54, 55, 56, 57 and 66 of the ICT Act would be abolished as those were incorporated in the proposed digital security law in a ‘simplified manner with some modifications’. 
About the concerns of the journalist community, Shafiul said, there was no such provision curbing the freedom of the press. 
According to the section 57 of the ICT law as amended in 2013, if any person deliberately publishes any material in electronic form that causes to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the State or person or causes to hurt religious belief, the offender will be punished with maximum 14 years and minimum 7 years of imprisonment. 
On August 22, 2016, the cabinet asked law minister Anisul Huq to scrutinise the draft of the digital security bill, which had initially proposed maximum life-term jail and a fine of Tk 1 crore for spreading propaganda against Sheikh Mujib and the Liberation War through internet or any digital device, so that its provisions did not contradict with other laws. 
The draft proposes setting up a ‘digital security agency’ and a ‘digital forensic lab’ to deal with cyber offences defined in the law. 
The proposed agency will have the authority to ask the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission on emergency basis to stop transmission of anything through electronic devices in violation of the law, the cabinet secretary said. 
He said that there were both bailable and non-bailable provisions for offences under the draft law. 
Shafiul said that the maximum punishment for hacking important cyber infrastructure of any government agency or for committing cyber-terrorism as defined in the anti-terrorism law would be 14 years of imprisonment and a fine Tk 1 crore. 
As per the draft, a person will be punished with 10-year jail term and a fine of Tk 20 lakh for hurting religious sentiments through internet or any digital/electronic device. 
Section 31 of the draft says that if any person or group deliberately publishes or transmits on a web site or in any other electronic form any material which creates enmity and hatred among different sections or communities or hurts communal harmony, or creates instability or anarchy or the possibility of deterioration in law and order, the activity will be regarded as a crime.
Such an offence will carry a maximum punishment of seven years’ imprisonment or a fine of Tk 5 lakh or both.
In section 27 of the draft law, it has been mentioned that if any person or group deliberately publishes or transmits on a web site or in any other electronic form any material which hurts anyone’s religious sentiment, the activity will be considered a crime, and the offender will face a maximum jail term of 10 years or a fine of Tk 20 lakh or both.
Section 32 of the draft mentions that if any person keeps, sends or preserves any secret information by intruding into any government, semi-government, autonomous or statutory body through computers, digital machines, computer or digital networks or any electronic medium, the activity will be regarded as a computer or digital espionage crime.
Such an offence will carry a maximum jail term of 14 years or a fine of Tk 25 lakh or both.
Before the ICT act was amended in 2013, the maximum punishment for offences under section 57 was 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Tk 1 crore. Besides, police had to seek permission from the authorities concerned to file a case and arrest any person under the law.
But through the amendment, the maximum jail term was raised to 14 years, and law enforcers were empowered to make arrests without a warrant.
Electronic transaction beyond lawful authority has been defined as a punishable offence, for which an offender would be punished with five-year jail and a fine of Tk 5 lakh. 
Asked for comment, journalist union leader Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul said that they were worried that if such a law was enacted it would curtail the freedom of expression as the government had already failed to contain misuses of section 57. 
He urged the government to consult further with journalists and academicians before placing the bill in parliament. 
Dhaka University professor Fahmidul Haq said that it seemed the government did not want the people to exercise the freedom of expression. 
Political activists, academicians, rights activists, journalists and retired military officials, among others, were prosecuted under the act by either the police or ruling Awami League activists mostly for posts on Facebook. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net