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Press Release

The Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018, has been the reason behind severe criticism that put Bangladesh in the spotlight from human rights organizations at home and abroad in the past three years. The law has severely disrupted the freedom of expression of journalists and citizens of various walks of society in Bangladesh. Many have been victimized for voicing their opinion online. According to the different media reports, more than 1500 cases have been filed under the DSA from January 1, 2020, to March 2021. 925 cases were filed in 2018; 1189 cases in 2019 and 1128 cases in 2020.  The Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) has been able to track 890 cases with detailed information from January 2020 to February 2022 and conducted a research study where it analyzed the cases. In order to highlight the findings of the study, CGS is organizing a webinar, titled “Unending Nightmare: Impacts of Bangladesh's Digital Security Act 2018” next Saturday 23rd April 2022 at 11.00 A.M. The presentation will be given by the Principle Investigator of the research, Professor Dr. Ali Riaz, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Illinois State University, USA and a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Governance Studies.

The discussants of the webinar will be Brigadier General M Sakhawat Hossain, (Retd.), former Election Commissioner of Bangladesh; Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Secretary, Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN); Barrister Tania Amir, Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court; Faruq Faisel, Regional Director, ARTICLE 19. 

The program will be presided over by Dr. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury, Chairman of the Centre for Governance Studies and moderated by CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman.