Govt plans new law to stop cybercrimes: Anisul

Law Minister Anisul Huq

The government plans to enact a new law to prevent cybercrimes that take new dimensions frequently, said Law Minister Anisul Huq today.

"The ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Act is not enough to address the cyber crimes. Therefore, we need to enact a new law,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a consultation with parliamentarians on the ‘ICT Act, 2006: Implications for freedom of Online Expression’ organised by the ARTICLE 19 at a hotel in Dhaka.

About amending the ICT Act, 2006, he said all the laws should be updated every two to three years to make it time-befitting.

The new law will ensure freedom of speech and expression as well as ensure punishment to offenders, Huq said.

He expressed condolence to the family members of the three slain bloggers and termed them as “martyred” for sacrificing their lives for the freedom of speech.

About online propaganda of fundamentalists, Huq said their activities should be intensively monitored and prompt action should be taken against those. If the activities cannot be prevented, the country and countrymen will fall in a dangerous situation.

He also announced that a new ‘Evidence Act’ will be formulated by the end of this year.

Speaking at the function, State Minister for Information and Communication Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, over 4.57 crore people are currently using the internet in Bangladesh. The country is seeing one new social media user in every 12 seconds.

“As our cyber world is expanding, the issue of cyber security is getting more importance. So, the government is working to formulate a Cyber Security Act,” he said.

Presenting a paper, Tahmina Rahman, director (Bangladesh and South Asia) of ARTICLE 19, demanded amendment to the Section 46 and 57 of the ICT Act, 2006.

The Section 46 has provided huge power to a government-appointed controller to block online content and the Section 57 imposes different sorts of restrictions on freedom of expression, she said.

Several lawmakers, foreign delegates, ICT experts, legal experts and media personalities, also spoke at the function.