Section 42 of Cyber Security Act has legal requirement: Law Minister

Law Minister Anisul Huq has said there is a legal requirement of Section 42 of the Cyber Security Act.

“Because the job of the police is to stop the possibility of committing a crime, if the crime is committed, arrest the culprits and bring them to justice, and collect evidence.

“In some cases, immediate evidence is required to be handed over to trial and it is their responsibility to gather this evidence.  If the hands of the police are tied there, then they will not be able to gather evidence, they will not be able to work,” he said.

There are places where immediate action is needed. Section 42 will be applied only in such cases, the minister said this while addressing the fourth broadcast conference of Broadcast Journalist Centre (BJC) at Bangla Academy Auditorium in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

Highlighting the context of the enactment of the Cyber Security Act, Anisul said section 57 was added to the ICT Act of 2006. There were many questions and objections to this section. There was also a need to control or protect cyberspace. It was in this context that the Digital Security Act was enacted.

The law was not intended to be a barrier to journalists, news outlets or independent journalism. This was not the intention at all and it is also true that the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees freedom of speech and media as a fundamental right, the minister added.

He said the government has always acknowledged that parts of the Digital Security Act (DSA) were misused. He said 7,001 cases have been filed under the Digital Security Act. There are now 5,995 cases. The people of Bangladesh have filed 95 percent of these cases. There may be politicians among them, but when it was found that the law was being misused, the government discussed it.

Since then, the government has also learned about the best practices around the world. Then when it was found that some changes were needed in the law, it was discussed, it was also discussed during the drafting of the Cybersecurity Law, added the minister.

The law minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is very serious about protecting all the officials, employees and employees in all fields, not just journalists.

BJC Board of Trustees Chairman Rezwanul Haque Raja presided over the conference while Ekattor TV Chief Planning Secretary Nur Safa Julhas and Senior Journalist Munni Saha moderated the conference.