Cyber Security Act to Be Amended to Curb Rumors, Misinformation

The government will amend the Cyber Security Act to prevent the spread of rumors, misinformation, defamatory content, and misleading material created using artificial intelligence (AI) across social media and cyberspace.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed informed Parliament on Monday.

In the House, ruling party reserved seat MP Helen Zerin Khan drew attention to an urgent public importance issue under Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure.

Responding to the notice, the home minister said content is being published and circulated on social media involving political figures, key state personalities, and their family members under the guise of freedom of expression. He questioned whether such content truly falls within the scope of free speech, adding that a fresh definition is needed.

The minister said work is underway to redefine ‘cyberspace’ by including social media, virtual media, and all online platforms. He added that drafting work has already begun to amend the Cyber Security Act for this purpose.

He said the revised law will introduce new definitions of rumor, misinformation, defamation, and misleading content, along with new punitive measures to prevent their creation and dissemination.

The minister noted that the use of artificial intelligence to generate offensive, disturbing, and defamatory content is rising at an alarming rate. To address this, new provisions will be introduced to strengthen coordination with international technology platforms and ensure the rapid removal of harmful content.

He also said that in many cases, requests to remove harmful content take too long to be implemented or are not acted upon at all. For this reason, the law will include mandatory timelines for content removal.

The home minister added that to make the reporting and removal process more accountable and effective, authorized government agencies and law enforcement bodies may be given expanded powers to remove, block, or transfer data. The National Cyber Security Agency and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) are under consideration for such authority.

Replying to a supplementary question from Helen Zerin Khan, he said international tech platforms, including Meta, often do not respond promptly to requests from Bangladesh, largely due to a lack of strong legal obligations under existing laws.