Clause will be added, if needed
Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said a subsection will be included in the proposed digital security act, if it is necessary, for removing confusion over the freedom of expression and freedom of speech.
The much-debated Digital Security Bill 2018 is now at the parliamentary standing committee for its examination. The committee will submit a report to the parliament within four weeks in this regard.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. A discussion will be held on the bill and if it is found that freedom of expression and freedom of speech will be damaged by the proposed law, a subsection will be included in the law, the law minister said.
He said this while talking to reporters after attending as the chief guest a training programme for the lower court judges at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital.
He said the parliamentary standing committee will decide with whom they will discuss the proposed digital security act. The journalists need not to be afraid of the proposed act, he also said.
The law minister yesterday also recalled his February 6 comments about the proposed digital security act.
On February 6, Minister Anisul at a “meet the press” event organised by the Law Reporters Forum (LRF) at Dhaka Reporters' Unity had said, “A subsection will be included in the Section 32 of the proposed Digital Security Act, 2018, if it is necessary for protecting the investigative journalism in the public interest”.
“I can assure that no journalist will be harassed by Section 32 of the Digital Security Act, as this law is not being formulated targeting the journalists. If any journalist is affected by the Section 32 of the [Digital Security] act, I will move a legal fight on behalf of the journalist free of cost,” he had said.
On April 9, Telecom and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar placed the proposed law before the House, which was sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry concerned for scrutinising it. The committee had also been asked to submit a report to parliament within four weeks.
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