Nineteen civil society and rights organisations have called on the government to withdraw the proposed amendments to the Cyber Protection Act, 2026.
They have warned that the draft expands vaguely defined speech offences, weakens safeguards and gives the executive wider powers over online content.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the organisations said the amendments were prepared without meaningful public consultation and appeared “in many respects, more regressive” than the Digital Security Act, 2018.
The signatories include Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Ain o Salish Kendra, ARTICLE 19, Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Naripokko and Human Rights Support Society, among others.
They said civil society groups, journalists, technologists and the wider public had little or no genuine opportunity to scrutinise and respond to the draft before it moved further through the policymaking process.
The statement said this continued a pattern dating back to the enactment of the Digital Security Act in 2018, which it said was also adopted with negligible public input.
Simply making a draft publicly available does not constitute meaningful consultation unless stakeholders have sufficient time to respond and their recommendations can influence the final law, the groups said.
The organisations raised particular concern over what they described as an expansion of vaguely defined speech-related offences.
They said the proposed amendment considerably broadens the definition of defamation beyond the Penal Code definition previously used under the Digital Security Act and Cyber Security Act.
It also introduces offences involving maligning, rumours and disinformation, which the groups said are defined broadly enough to allow subjective interpretation and inconsistent enforcement.
Determining whether a statement is defamatory, false, misleading or a rumour requires judicial fact-finding rather than a summary assessment, they argued.
The draft provides no sufficiently narrow thresholds, requirement to establish concrete harm or adequate procedural safeguards against abuse, according to the statement.
The groups said the provisions could criminalise online expression, allow pre-trial detention and carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and 4 million taka in fines.
They warned this could create scope for selective enforcement and punishment before disputed claims have been properly established.
The statement also questioned the growing role of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the amendment process.
Cyber legislation has traditionally fallen under the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, it said, adding that the basis and scope of the Information Ministry’s new role remain unclear.
The groups said terms such as “defamation,” “maligning,” “rumour” and “disinformation” point towards increased regulation of information and expression.
Rather than setting clear obligations for platforms, effective remedies for users and a credible content-governance framework, the proposed amendments expand the state’s authority to decide what can remain online, they said.
The organisations also warned that several proposed changes could weaken existing institutional and procedural safeguards.
Allowing certain offences to be prosecuted under the Mobile Courts Act, 2009 could undermine due-process and fair-trial guarantees in cases involving contested speech and potentially serious criminal consequences, they said.
The draft would also add more government officials to the National Cyber Protection Council while removing representation from the National Human Rights Commission.
The groups said the change risks strengthening executive dominance without adequate institutional safeguards.
They also objected to expanded government rule-making authority over online content and platform regulation, saying significant decisions could be left to executive discretion without sufficient legislative scrutiny.
Revisions proposed to Section 8 would further empower the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and other executive agencies to seek removal of a broader range of online content.
The statement said those powers lack clear procedural standards, requirements to notify affected users, independent scrutiny and effective avenues of appeal.
The 19 organisations urged the government to withdraw the current draft and begin a meaningful, time-bound consultation involving civil society, journalists, legal experts, technologists and other stakeholders.
They also called for a revised draft based on broad stakeholder consultation that addresses wider concerns in cyberspace, empowers Bangladeshi citizens and complies with Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law.
Besides TIB, BLAST and Ain o Salish Kendra, the signatories include Tech Global Institute, Cyber Support for Women and Children Platform, Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum, Bandhu Social Welfare Foundation, Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation, Cyber Teens, Digitally Right, Institute for Informed Development, Orroddho Foundation, The Tech Academy and Voice.
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