The Cabinet on Monday (Jan 29) approved in principle the draft of the Digital Security Bill, 2018 repealing section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. The approval came from the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at the Prime Minister's Office with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat, local media reports said.
"In the draft law, sections 54, 55, 56, 57 and 66 have been revoked," he said adding that the cases already filed under the section 57 of the ICT Act will be continued.
According to the proposed law, anyone spreading negative propaganda against the Liberation War or Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, using digital devices, will risk being sentenced.
If anyone illegally enters any critical information infrastructure, he or she will be sentenced to maximum 7 years’ imprisonment or be fined by Tk 25 lakh or by both.
