The Government of Bangladesh passed the Cyber Security Bill 2023 on September 13, 2023. The Bill remains substantially similar to the controversial Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018, which criminalized various types of online speech. The Cyber Security Bill has retained the majority of offenses under the DSA, but makes bailable ten offences that were unbailable under the DSA. The Cyber Security Bill, like the DSA, continues to limit freedom of expression by criminalizing vague and overbroad categories of speech, retains certain non-bailable offenses, and gives the authorities vast powers to obtain, control, and censor data information. Like the DSA, the new Cyber Security Bill could be misused to arrest, detain, and silence dissenting voices.
On September 14, 2023, the Cyber Tribunal, Dhaka sentenced Odhikar’s Secretary, Adilur Rahman Khan, and Director, ASM Nasiruddin Elan, to two years imprisonment and a Taka 10,000 fine under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006. The two were charged for releasing a report on extrajudicial killings related to the Hefazat-e-Islam protests of 2013.