Cyber law amendment urgent, otherwise Bangladesh will become a 'vast prison'

Top media-related figures have emphasized the need for further amendments to the draft of the proposed Cyber Protection Act. Speaking on the matter, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Editor-in-Chief of the daily Manab Zamin, said, "If this law is passed without amendments, Bangladesh will turn into a vast prison."

A second consultation meeting organized by the government was held at the Secretariat on Monday with stakeholders from print and electronic media to review the much-discussed and criticized 'Cyber Protection (Amendment) Act, 2026' draft. Matiur Rahman Chowdhury made these remarks at a briefing after the meeting.

At the time, Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) Secretary General and Ekushey Television Chairman Abdus Salam, and National Press Club President Hasan Hafiz also spoke.

Earlier, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed presented the government's position on the matter before journalists. He said, "A proposal has come to require court permission before arrest in order to prevent unjust harassment and victimization of journalists. So that this law does not become an oppressive law, we have published the draft bill on a website to gather opinions from all levels of society. Many people have given their opinions on the website, many organizations have given opinions, many human rights organizations, Human Rights [organizations] have also given opinions, and many students have given opinions. We have compiled all of them."

The Home Minister said, "Today, Mahfuz Anam (Daily Star Editor) has proposed anew that we take a bit more time and gather opinions from media and cyber experts together, and that we include some protection clauses so that the media is not harmed or victimized under this law... We have accepted this."

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed expressed the view that the law will be enriched through everyone's discussion. He said, "We did not want to make this law targeting the media, nor do we want to, and we do not want any journalist to fall victim to it or for this law to be misused."

Meanwhile, a decision has been made to review the proposed draft of the Cyber Protection Act amendment at the expert level with the aim of making fundamental changes. The review committee will propose necessary legal protections to ensure that media organizations and journalists are not harassed due to this law.

The committee will include representatives of editors' and journalists' organizations as well as information technology experts. The committee will submit its recommendations to the government within 15 days. However, the number of committee members and who will be on it has not yet been finalized. Chief Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed will serve as the focal officer of the review committee. The Chief Information Officer will make arrangements for forming the committee and convening meetings by contacting the Editors' Council, ATCO, and journalists' organizations.