Law, justice, and parliamentary affairs adviser Asif Nazrul announced on Thursday that the Cyber Security Act 2023 would eventually be abolished.
He added that the government had initiated steps to withdraw cases filed under the CSA and its preceding laws.
Nazrul made these remarks while presiding over a view-exchange meeting on reforming the CSA at the Judicial Administration Training Institute auditorium.
鈥楿ltimately, the CSA will be abolished,鈥� Nazrul said, noting that any new law would ensure both cyber security and the protection of citizens鈥� rights.
He also highlighted that the new law would address vulnerability faced by women and children, incorporate provisions for artificial intelligence, and take into account emerging technologies, following consultations with experts.
The adviser further emphasised that the government was committed to gradually eliminating repressive laws in Bangladesh.
The meeting, organised by the law ministry, brought together lawyers, rights activists, victims, academicians, journalists, and technology
experts.
Many participants criticised the CSA as a tool of repression under Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 government, calling for its complete repeal.
The act had replaced the controversial Digital Security Act of 2018, which faced widespread criticism for suppressing dissent.
While advocating for abolition of the CSA, several participants recommended drafting a new law to address cybercrimes, particularly those involving harassment of women and children.
They also argued against classifying defamation as a cybercrime as such offences were already covered under existing laws. Transparency International Bangladesh鈥檚 executive director Iftekharuzzaman reiterated TIB鈥檚 long-standing demand for the abolition of the CSA, labelling it 鈥榥on-amendable鈥� and a key instrument of authoritarianism.
Information and Broadcasting adviser Md Nahid Islam echoed the sentiment, admitting that the CSA was prone to misuse.
He expressed embarrassment over recent cases filed under the act for defamation and called for a suspension of filing cases until the act is amended or repealed. Prominent voices at the meeting also stressed the importance of expert involvement in drafting any new law.
Lawyer Tanim Hussain Shawon urged that the drafting process should be led by legal specialists and academicians rather than bureaucrats.
Dhaka Tribune executive editor Reaz Ahmad noted that the CSA had been used to advance political interests, while rights activist Rezaur Rahman Lenin warned that the country鈥檚 progress would be stifled if such laws remained in place.
Emphasising press freedom, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists secretary general Quader Gani Chowdhury argued that the CSA was designed not to ensure security but to silence opposition voices.
Among others, photographer Shahidul Alam, former district judge Iktedar Ahmed, political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman, Dhaka University law professor Quazi Mahfujul Hoque Supan, lawyers Mohammad Shishir Manir and Abdullah Al Noman, and Digital Security Act victims Didarul Bhuiyan and Khadijatul Kubra were present at the meeting.