A law that gagged

Some made a differing comment, some drew a political cartoon and some made a joke online – and they all ended up in jail, in some cases for months. This is how the Digital Security Act (DSA) and later the Cyber Security Act (CSA) were used to gag freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Until recently, people were afraid to voice their opinions on digital platforms because of the harsh law. But yesterday victims of the “draconian” law expressed relief after the government decided in principle to abolish the law.
Naval Architect Golam Mahfuz Joarder, now convener of the DSA Victims Network, is one of them. He was in jail for 10 months simply for voicing concerns in social media over extrajudicial killings.
“Extrajudicial killings were rampant in 2018-19. At the time, I posted on Facebook opposing these killings. On December 26, 2019, a Rab team detained me, accusing me of writing against the force and gathering data on crossfire,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.
His explanation to the law enforcers that he only posted information from published news reports did not work, he said. His bail petition was rejected seven times before he was granted bail.
He was not alone.
Between October 2018 and August 2024, at least 3,208 named and 2,080 unnamed people have been sued under the DSA. Another 372 people have been prosecuted under the CSA, according to data collected by Centre for Governance Studies, a think-tank.
These figures do not include the cases filed for sexual harassment, blackmail and fraud.
Of the 5,000 plus accused, nearly half (2,308) was prosecuted for social media posts deemed as critical of the government, office holders or elected representatives. Of them, at least 219 named and more than 200 unnamed people were charged for criticising former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the CGS data show.
Journalists and opposition political party leaders suffered the most under the law.
For example, one in every three of those accused under the DSA and one in every four of those accused under the CSA were journalists. At least 227 journalists were prosecuted under the DSA specifically for publishing news or for social media posts, according to CGS data.
About a third of the accused under DSA and more than half of the accused under CSA are politicians.
The DSA had a section that criminalised “hurting religious sentiments” with non-bailable provisions. Out of the 99 people charged for this offence, 44 percent belonged to the religious minorities, particularly those from the Hindu community.
As of August 2024, at least 5,818 cases were ongoing with eight cyber tribunals throughout the country, according to a law ministry press release issued on September 30.
Of them, 1,340 cases are related to “speech-based offence” – 879 under trial and 461 under investigation, the press release said.
For instance, activist Didarul Alam was arrested after his social media post about the disparity in the government relief distribution during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. Didarul said he was interrogated blindfolded for seven hours. He languished in jail for five months.
Separately, 11 people, including writer Mushtaq Ahmed (who died in prison), cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil who runs Netra News, US-based journalist Shahed Alam, were charged with “spreading rumours and carrying out anti-government activities”.
Jagannath University student Khadijatul Kubra did not even post anything on social media.
She was arrested at the age of 17 simply for hosting a Facebook webinar, where a guest, Delwar Hossain, a retired army officer, made some critical remarks. Delwar, an expatriate, was also accused in the case.
 She languished in jail for nearly 15 months, and walked out of jail on November 20, 2023, after the Supreme Court finally granted her bail.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, she described her ordeal during the time, saying it seriously affected her study and her life’s trajectory.
She termed the government decision to abolish the law as a victory for the victims who suffered under the law.
“We hope that all such draconian laws will be abolished,” she said.