Proposed CSA to prevent harassment of journalists’: Anisul
BI Report || BusinessInsider
File photo
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq has said that the proposed Cyber Security Act (CSA) would be very helpful in preventing harassment of journalists.
The minister said this while addressing a press conference on abolishing the Digital Security Act and the proposed Cyber Security Act at the BCC Auditorium in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon.
BSS adds: He said "The proposed CSA will be very helpful in checking cyber crimes. Apart from those, the mental pressure that was created among the people because of the Digital Security Act, the panic which was seen while publishing news freely in the media, the concerns raised by the journalist community, will also go away.”
The sternness of punishment in DSA, which had created controversy, has been reduced in the proposed Cyber Security Act (CSA) to a great extent. Some non-bailable sections have been made bailable, he added.
"DSA had Section 29 to deal with defamation charges. In the proposed act, the only punishment would be fine, or to suffer jail term of three to six months in default. The maximum punishment in this regard would be an amount of fine of not more than Taka 25 lakh," he said.
The law minister also said the changes that were brought in the act were so many that if the government had stuck with the previous name Digital Security Act, it had to name it as Digital Security Amended Act, which would have been confusing. So the government opted for the name Cyber Security Act, 2023. We brought cyber to increase its extent.
The cabinet on August 7 approved in principle the draft of the new act, annulling some stringent provisions like jail terms on defamation charges.
Presided over by State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the briefing was attended by Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division Secretary Md Moinul Kabir, Law and Justice Division Secretary Md Golam Sarwar, Information and Communication Technology Division Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin and other senior officials.
