The Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 is an Act passed by the

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...

in 2006 to encourage and regulate ICT services in Bangladesh. Cybercrimes in Bangladesh are tried under the Information and Communication Technology Act. The act was strengthen through an amendment in 2013. The law was controversial due to parts which were viewed as threatening freedom of speech and its section 57 was replaced with the controversial

Digital Security Act The Digital Security Act, 2018 is a digital security law in Bangladesh. This act was passed with the aim of preventing the spread of racism; sectarianism; extremism; terrorist propaganda; and hatred against religious or ethnic minorities through soc ...

History

Information and Communication Technology Act was passed in 2006 by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...

government. On 20 August 2013, the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 was amended through the passage of an ordinance which was passed by the parliament of Bangladesh on 9 October. The amendment allowed the police to detain suspects under the act without warrants and increased the jail time. The amendment also removed the requirement for law enforcement to seek prior approval from the government before filing cases under the act. The amendment was criticized for potential for violation of human rights.

Iftekharuzzaman Iftekharuzzaman is the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh. Early life Iftekharuzzaman completed his high school in 1968 under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Jessore. did his undergraduate studies in ec ...

, director of

Transparency International Bangladesh Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) is the Bangladeshi branch of the Berlin-based Transparency International, a civil society organisation dedicated to fighting against corruption. History TIB started its activities in 1996. In 2016 it ...

, criticized the act while

Shahdeen Malik Shahdeen Malik is a Bangladeshi lawyer, eminent jurist, a constitutional expert, and legal activist. Early life Malik's father, Abdul Malik Chowdhury, was the chief conservatory officer of the Forest Department. He did his masters in law at the ...

said the amendment would drag Bangladesh back to the "mediaeval age".

Prominent cases

Mahmudur Rahman Mahmudur Rahman ( bn, মাহমুদুর রহমান ; born 6 July 1953) is the one of the owners and acting editor of one of Bangladesh's Bengali daily newspapers, ''Amar Desh''. He is also an author, engineer and businessman. Establ ...

, editor of

Amar Desh ''Amar Desh'' ( bn, আমার দেশ) is a defunct daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language since 2004. ''Amar Desh'' provides news about Bangladesh from local and regional perspectives and covers interna ...

, was sued under Information and Communication Technology Act on 13 December 2012 on sedition charges for writing on the

2012 ICT Skype controversy The 2012 ICT Skype controversy was the leaking of Skype conversations and emails between Mohammed Nizamul Huq, head judge and chairman of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, and Ahmed Ziauddin, a Bangladeshi lawyer based in Brussels. Thes ...

. * Shahidul Alam, a notable photographer, was charged under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 by the Detective Branch during the

2018 Bangladesh road-safety protests A series of public protests in Bangladesh advocating improved road safety were held from 29 July to 8 August 2018. They were sparked by the deaths of two high-school students in Dhaka struck by a bus operated by an unlicensed driver who was rac ...

. Shahidul Alam has challenged the legality of the Section 57 of the ICT act with the Bangladesh Supreme Court after his challenge was rejected by Bangladesh High Court.

Criticism

The law was criticized for not defining liabilities of domain holders.

Section 57

Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 drew criticism from writers and journalists for the potential impact on Freedom of Speech in Bangladesh. This was the most used section of the act by Bangladesh Police to file cases. The act made it illegal to post material online that is provocative, defamatory, or "hurt religious sentimentality". Jyotirmoy Barua criticized the act saying it was used Bangladesh Police and the

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to silence dissent. In four months of 2017, 21 journalists were sued under the act. From 2013 to 2017, a minimum of 700 cases were filed under the act with the

Cyber Tribunal Cyber may refer to: Computing and the Internet * ''Cyber-'', from cybernetics, a transdisciplinary approach for exploring regulatory and purposive systems Crime and security * Cyber crime, crime that involves computers and networks ** Conventi ...

. The Section was replaced by the Digital Security Act, 2018. The act has been criticized for curbing free speech in Bangladesh. The Digital Security Act has been criticized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

References

{{reflist Law of Bangladesh 2006 in Bangladesh Censorship in Bangladesh Freedom of the press 2006 in Bangladeshi law