DSA strikes again!

Once again, the dreaded Digital Security Act is being used against journalists and media officials, this time to sue two journalists and one official of Somoy TV over airing a report on corruption allegations against a Noakhali court official. In addition to these three members of the press, three other individuals have also been made accused in the case.

In his court statement, the complainant claimed that the report was "untrue, false, fake, baseless, vindictive and defamatory". He also filed a Tk 10 crore defamation case with the First Joint District Judge's Court in Noakhali on May 5 against the same six accused over running the report. And he further claimed that the broadcasting had damaged his family's reputation and prestige. What is striking, however, is that according to one of the journalists made accused in the case, they had prepared the report based on the charge sheets in two corruption cases against the said court official.

So, all they had done was make public the contents of an official document. They did not just cook up some baseless allegations against the official out of thin air. If charge sheets have been prepared against the court official for two cases of corruption, then it is no laughing matter. One would assume, if the official was innocent, that he would want his name to get cleared through proper investigation of the charges against him. Instead of trying to prove his innocence to the anti-corruption authorities, why the official has chosen to go after journalists who had simply reported on the matter using official documents is difficult to understand.

Then again, it might not be that surprising or difficult to understand given the way the DSA has been used till now. Last year, as many as 457 people of various professions were prosecuted and arrested in 198 cases filed under the Digital Security Act. Of them, 75 were journalists, while others included teachers, students, folk musicians and cultural artists. Nearly half of the journalists who were prosecuted were arrested at some stage. In many of these cases, the accusations were so flimsy and the methods used were so unprofessional that it became evident how the DSA is being abused to stifle free speech, free expression and press freedoms.

What is happening now is the result of arbitrary restrictions on free speech and the ongoing choking of free media. The government has repeatedly hinted that it is unwilling to listen to members of the media or experts from other fields when it comes to such concerns, and enacted draconian laws such as the DSA. Despite the people's protest against its misuse, the government has done nothing to fix this. And this is its result, clear for all to see.