Draft digital, OTT rules: TIB warns of a surveillance-based state

If the proposed regulation for the digital, social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms is enforced, there will be a risk of Bangladesh becoming a "surveillance-based" country, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said yesterday.

Addressing a virtual press conference, the TIB boss said the proposed regulation largely contradicts the government's high-profile goal which is to build a Digital Bangladesh.  

TIB organised the conference to brief the media about its position on the draft "Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Regulation for Digital, Social Media and OTT Platforms-2021".

The government published the first draft of the regulation in February for comments on it from different stakeholders.

The graft watchdog raised concerns over a number of clauses in the draft regulation, stressing the need for bringing significant changes to them before going for the enforcement.

According to clause 6.01 (d) of the draft regulation, either BTRC or a court with competent jurisdiction can issue a content removal request on grounds related to sovereignty, integrity or security of the country, decency or morality, friendly relationship with foreign countries, or defamation, TIB said in its comments on the regulation.

An intermediary must remove the content promptly, but in any event within 72 hours. Fundamentally, this requirement raises several concerns, it said.

"We have seen interpretation of the abovementioned grounds made arbitrarily to suit motivated objectives over the years," it also said.

Under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 and the Digital Security Act, 2018, thousands of arrests were made over a decade for expressions on social media, it further said.

Clause 7.03 of the draft law says upon receiving a court order or instructions from the BTRC, messaging service operator is required to track the originator of a message and disclose information about him or her to the authorities.

Effectively, this provision requires every message, photo, video and other communications sent over a messaging service to be "fingerprinted", it said.

It added that most messaging services now use end-to-end encryption, which means that this clause will require the services to break those encryptions, violating the legitimate expectation of citizens regarding the privacy of their correspondence and other means of communication.

Iftekharuzzaman said while formulating the regulation, the government has to consider that people's fundamental rights, especially freedom of speech and freedom of expression, are not put at risk in the name of controlling digital, social media and OTT platforms.

The move's main aim should be controlling harmful elements or contents, the TIB recommended.

Iftekharuzzaman urged the government to analyse good practices in different countries and take lessons from those while launching the mechanism in the country.

It is essential to bring significant changes to the draft based on such good practices, he added.