Government policy-makers did not feel the need to pay attention to the concerns of media stakeholders regarding the Digital Security Act. It was only when the United Nations Human Rights Commission took a strict stance against this law that the government came to its senses. The ministers said, yes, the law will be amended. It was later seen that instead of any amendment, a law called Cyber Security Act was used in place of the Digital Security Act. Journalists and dissenting voices are also at risk under this law.
High Court Justice Sheikh Hasan recently said in a workshop that some sections of this law can be extremely dangerous for journalists. However, despite all these dangers and risks, the new law is somewhat lax.
Law Minister Anisul Haq had said in Parliament on June 5 last year that a total of 7,001 cases have been registered under the Digital Security Act till January 31, 2023. Yet only 2 percent of these were disposed of. This means that people accused under this law have had to spend years in jail without any trial and many are still behind bars. Those granted bail will have to appear in court every month.
Some legal experts have questioned whether it is appropriate to continue cases under the Digital Security Act after this law expires. The Law Minister argued that the trial would be conducted under the law that existed when the charges were filed. But in the case of DSA, it has been observed that many cases were registered even when no crime was committed. Many people call these 'hypothetical cases'. If a case has no basis then how can it be heard? It was created only to suppress the voices of dissenting people and journalists.