DSA chills journalism

The UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, has said Bangladesh's Digital Security Act imposes draconian punishments for a wide range of vaguely defined acts.

In a report submitted to the 15th session of the UN Human Rights Council, now underway in Geneva, she said fake news laws generally fail to meet the three-pronged test of legality, legitimate aims and necessity set out in article 19 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"An example of such flawed legislation is the Digital Security Act of Bangladesh, which imposes draconian punishments for a wide range of vaguely defined acts encompassing national security, criminal cyberlibel and disinformation, and bestows significant and highly intrusive investigative, search and seizure powers on the authorities," she said in the report.

It said the use of the law has led to the arbitrary detention, torture and custodial death of journalists, and chilled journalism online and offline.

The special rapporteur repeated her call for the law to be repealed.

According to the report, other examples of countries that have recently adopted or enforced legislation that is not compliant with international standards include Cuba, France, Italy, Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore, among others.

Describing the global situation on media freedom, Irene said digital technology has enabled groundbreaking investigative reporting, new models of cross-border collaboration, cooperative fact-checking with audiences and access to treasure troves of data and diverse sources with a mouse-click.

However, it has also given rise to unprecedented challenges and changes for the news industry, aggravating existing threats and creating new ones. Longstanding problems of violent attacks on and legal harassment of journalists with impunity, censorship of content and manipulation of regulatory authorities have been entrenched, aggravated and augmented by digital technology, the report said.

Notable new manifestations include gender-based online violence, targeted surveillance of journalists, legislation restricting information online, "media capture" by state or corporate interests and viral disinformation campaigns that undermine public trust in independent journalism, it added.

The UN special rapporteur recommended that at the national level, states should develop and implement national action plans, based on human rights obligations and tailored to online as well as offline issues, to advance the freedom, independence and pluralism of the media.

Irene also said states should consult with civil society and journalist organisations in developing, monitoring and assessing their national action plans in a transparent and inclusive way.

The Human Rights Council should encourage states to use the universal periodical review and the voluntary national review of the Sustainable Development Goals to report on compliance, challenges and good practices relating to media freedom and the safety of journalists.

The 15th session of the UN rights body began on June 13 and ends on July 8.