Over the past four months in Bangladesh, more than 20 journalists have been sued under a controversial law prohibiting digital messages that can “deteriorate” law and order, “prejudice the image of the state or person,” or “hurt religious beliefs.”
Although its authors may have intended for this part of the law to be used sparingly, it is now routinely used to suppress freedom of speech and harass writers, activists and journalists, often for their comments on social media.
Bangladeshi law enables individuals and private companies to file suits against one another under the law, Section 57 of the 2013 Information and Communication Technology Act. The offences mentioned above are non-bailable and carry a minimum punishment of seven years (with a maximum of 14 years) and a maximum fine of up to Tk ten million ($123,150).
On June 3, three journalists were sued by a ruling party activist in Habiganj over a report involving local ruling party (Awami League) lawmaker Abdul Majid Khan. On April 29, a private company filed a lawsuit against journalist Ahmed Razu, executive editor of online portal Natunsomay.com, for publishing two reports that allegedly tarnished the image of the company. The law has been used many times against journalists for their comments against the rich and the powerful.
Nearly 700 cases have been filed under the ICT Act since it was amended in 2013. Research by The Daily Star shows that 60% of them were lodged under Section 57. Approximately 319 such cases are currently at trial.
In the most recent publicly reported case, a professor at Dhaka University’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism used the law to sue his colleague, associate professor Fahmidul Huq, over a Facebook post. The professor alleged that the post divulged confidential official university information.
Dhaka University teacher sues colleague under section 57 over a facebook post. The country I live in!
https://t.co/sYJotMMFp5 via— Mubashar Hasan (@mubashardhaka) July 13, 2017
Ahmad Raju, #Bangladesh journalist imprisoned for violating 57 section of ICT act. where is freedom of speech? @amnesty @hrw @AJEnglish pic.twitter.com/h6P2PpR8Jf
— Ali Ahmad Mabrur (@Mabrur00) May 2, 2017
As of July 17, a university spokesperson said that professor Abul Mansur Ahmed had decided to drop charges against his colleague, Haq. According to the statement, Ahmed took the decision after Haq uploaded another post on Facebook apologising for his previous post.
The ICT Act
The law was first introduced in 2006. A 2013 amendment made several updates to the law, among which was an increase of the maximum punishment for certain offenses and make them non-bailable.
Human rights activists and writers have long campaigned to repeat the ICT Act, reasoning that its broad scope has left it vulnerable to misuse by political opponents, enemies, and law enforcement agencies.
Shariful Hasan commented on the lawsuit against Haq:
Blogger and Activist Abu Mustafiz Hassan wrote on Facebook:
Activist and filmmaker Reza Ghatak wrote on Facebook:
Many journalists have been holding rallies demanding the controversial ICT law should be repealed.
Journalists protest ;demanding withdrawal of a case against journalist GolamDhruba in section 57 of ICT Act by a Manikganj judge #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/YZN0hFseP0
— Tehmina Amin (@AminTehmina) June 16, 2017
Activists and lawyer Jatirmoy Barua said in an interview to local news portal Jago News:
In 2015, Barrister Barua lodged a writ petition against this controversial act in the Supreme Court, which is still waiting for a hearing date.
In May 2017, the minister of law, justice and parliamentary affairs Anisul Huq publicly pledged to scrap Section 57 from the law. Instead, they said, these issues will be covered under Bangladesh’s forthcoming Digital Security Act, which may be introduced as soon as in August 2017.
It remains to be seen how this law will affect online speech, and how the many cases launched under Section 57 will play out.
This article was originally published by Global Voices.