A Windowless Fortress In The Making

One Digital Security Act made a digital fortress
Another draconian law may make it breathless.
Could the govt stay long in such a suffocating place?

In another bizarre move, Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission(BTRC) has drafted policy aiming to firm its grip on social media platforms. Doubts have been raised from various groups as it may be another draconian policy to nab on opposite and dissent voices.

The clauses to be incorporated in the proposed policy indeed sound harassing.For instance, BTRC policy proposed to take and resolve complaints on content in a matter of 20 days. And complaints have to be taken into consideration within 24 hours. If government find content objectionable,then social media have to remove them within 72 hours. Moreover, social media platforms have to recruit employee whose job is to maintain contact between government officials and social media platforms¹.

There is little reason to believe that such regulations would not be misused. In the past, we witnessed how newspaper servers were blocked for several hours in a bid to comply them government order to remove content deemed critical to government.

Recently, many YouTube channels critical to government complained that their contents(video clips) had been removed from social media platforms raising false copy right claims. The channels claimed government-backed employee of social media platforms acted in connivance with false copy right claimers to jeopardize their broadcasting activity.

So examples are aplenty.We need to grow worry about its potential misuse. Back in 2018, soon after government adopted the Digital Security Act, I penned a piece titled “A Digital Fortress In The Making”² highlighting the pitfalls of such draconian law. Sharing it again:

Government has finally turned the country into a digital fortress with the introduction of Digital Security Act 2018. Journalists and human rights activists have already expressed concerns as the Act miserably failed to reflect the suggestions they had proposed in their previous encounters with the government.

Since its introduction just couple of months before election, the DSA 2018 has become a subject of constant criticism. Many believe it is a nuanced threat to the free press already struggling in a hostile environment to cover the wrong doings of people’s representatives and irregularities in the next election.

Government keeps pressing that it does not foresee any misuse of the Act. However, reports suggest that controversial clause of ICT Act was reincorporated into this act that stipulates that authority can detain any person for defamation, dissemination of defamatory content, incitement to violence, and hurting religion. What is worrying the accused may be imprisoned till the court decides whether the one is guilty or not. And the capital punishment is 14-year imprisonment.

Inclusion of some of the clauses of the Official Secrets Act 1923 further added salt to the injury.

Many fear the DSA could meet the fate of Special Power Ordinance 1974, introduced by the ruling party back in 1974. The SPO, provides Police authority to detain indiscriminately anyone without furnishing a proper reason, became grist to subsequent governments’ mill as it was extensively used to subdue critical voices and rivals.Meanwhile blames for making such draconian act heaped on Awami League.

Provided Bangladesh’s vindicative political culture, there is hardly any reason to believe why this Act will not be misused by ruling regime.

So, despite government’s crowd-pleasing assurance, there is little room for remaining assured. In the past we saw how wayward party loyalists lodged harassing cases against individuals, journalists, opposition activists, academics for frank posts on social media. Even for divulging truth about retired Army personnel. Many were thrown into jail. And are still there!

Internationally acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam is latest victim of this hate campaign. He recorded the acts of mayhem caused during the safe-road movement and gave frank opinion about it to a foreign TV channel. He was detained wielding the controversial clause 57 of ICT Act.

Taking cue from Mr Shahidul if an individual wants to document the wrongdoings of ruling party stalwarts or public servants , that individual could embrace the similar fate of Mr Shahidul. This is the message the government tries to convey with the introduction of the new law.

The l’Affaire SK Sinha teaches us that Bangladeshis in general need to be worried about the state of freedom of expression.

This latest move will take a heavy dent in the popularity of Awami League among the journalists whose opportunities to work increased manifolds with outbursts of media outlets and government’s review of wage hike.

The DSA will not only widen the scope of working of law enforcement authorities, but it may worsen the harassment of presspeople.

One senior journalist , in an interview accorded to an international media, fears that DSA may provide ammunition to authority to seize server of a media house.

As mainstream media may mire in self-censorship restraining themselves from going after earth-shaking political and corruption events, more and more readers may subscribe to rumor-mongering machines on Social Media. Contrary to the goal publicized by the government in support for DSA.

Furthermore, the DSA has made reporting on corruption harder than ever before. As per the new Act, a journalist’s action could be equated with that of a spy. From now onwards, a journalist runs the risk of breaching the Official Secrets Act and being labeled as Spy if that person wants to investigate corruption at a public office and keeps official documents.

Vice policing may increase in the Arts and Entertainment industry as vested groups may target individuals/groups for contents that they think “defamatory”. In Ekushey Book Fair, we already have a test of this kind of vice policing.

Moreover, information about defense procurement program will become much more difficult to get, even in Social Media. Discussion on defense related corruption may become difficult than ever before. For instance, within the government circle or men-in-fatigue, many may find it wrong to question Election Commission’s purchase of Electronic Voting Machines from an Army-run subsidiary, spending Tk 45 billion of taxpayers money. Meanwhile, opposition parties are crying for troops deployment across the country during national polls. By awarding this kind of lucrative contracts to such institution many see an effort to bring the Army on government side ahead of election.In addition, discussion on defense policy in any public forum will also become difficult with its effect. A government determined to make a Digital Bangladesh is in fact turning it into a digital fortress where anyone could be imprisoned on whimsical suspicion. Contrary to the vision of uniting people through a digital revolution, this DSA further deepens and widens the crack of digital divide by exposing government’s one policy for giving carte blanche to its loyalists and another policy for subduing the critical voices.

The upcoming BTRC regulation on social media platforms would be no different from DSA. Its misuse was pretty heavy. Two journalists were detained during lockdown last year for unearthing corruption in health ministry and caricaturing public figures. One of them killed in the jail while the other left the country. Another journalist is barred from leaving the country after doing report on vaccine purchase. My own WordPress site witnessed obstruction in publishing new contents( in the form of temporary block after every new content) prompting me to open another site on blogspot.

One of the areas where social media is making a difference is their contents and news on defense related issues. While mainstream media is notably mute on discussing and covering defense related issues due to lack of constitutional protection, social media pages and channels take the onus to cover and disseminate crucial defense issues including procurement process. Moreover, many dirty secrets of garrison,anecdotes and political ideology of controversial defense officials are exposed by these pages and channels.

One of the reasons put forward to introduce the harsher form of regulations is that these social media platforms on some occasion spread falsehood, hate and vulgarism. I do agree to some extent with the accusation. But it should not be the pretext to tighten grip on such platforms. Moreover, we often find people in the past holding important position in the govt and public service are often behind such activity. Many conspiracy theorists argue govt agencies floated these channels to control the narrative and to kill the novel idea of social media by tarnishing their images before the public in a bid to introduce draconian laws. Classic case is the Cumilla temple attack and attack on ISKCON temples across the country. Some key suspects were killed extrajudicially by RAB. Further thickening the claims of conspiracy theorists.

As the swelling river washes away polluted substance, government may allow more contents to dilute the harmful effect of contested content. Govt can float its own page and channel on the social media platforms and refute the claims.

These social media to some extent meet the information need of people after the Digital Security Act 2018. Prior to 2018 election, online news platforms played that role. But DSA 2018 clipped their wings. And we saw a controversial election. This latest development may lead us to another such election by muzzling the social media.

Like hash smoke, the draconian laws waft along in such closed environment, causing inertia to maintain the prevailing order. One DSA made Bangladesh a digital fortress, another BTRC regulation may take off the windows and ventilators from that fortress. It is neither good for people, nor for the govt.

Notes And References:

1 “Facebook,YouTube E Vidinishedh Aschhe(Regulations Soon For Facebook And YouTube)”, Suhada Afrin,Prothom Alo(Page-3),February 17,2022.

2 “A Digital Fortress In The Making”,Rezaul Hoque,September 26,2018. https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com For more read at https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com/2018/09/26/a-digital-fortress-in-the-making/