International civil society monitor CIVICUS has warned that proposed amendments to Bangladesh’s cyber security law could be used to criminalise journalism and online dissent, as it kept the country’s civic space rating at “repressed.”
In an assessment published on Tuesday, the CIVICUS Monitor said concerns over freedom of expression had persisted more than two years after the August 2024 uprising that ended Sheikh Hasina’s rule.
The organisation said the BNP government had yet to effectively implement reforms proposed under the interim administration, while rights defenders had raised concerns about shrinking space for activism and criticism.
It also cited the absence of reform to the NGO Affairs Bureau, which rights groups have previously accused of being used against critical civil society organisations.
A central concern in the CIVICUS assessment was the proposed amendment to the Cyber Security Act 2026.
Citing Transparency International Bangladesh, CIVICUS said terms including “rumour”, “misinformation”, “demeaning”, “defamatory” and “insulting to the state” were defined in ways that could allow deliberate misinterpretation and targeted misuse.
The proposed law provides for up to five years in prison or a heavy fine for defamation and up to 10 years in prison or a heavy fine for spreading rumours or fake news.
It would also make vaguely defined offences involving “friendly relations with a foreign state” and acting “for the benefit of a foreign state or any person or group” non-bailable.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has separately warned that the amendments could give authorities greater power to block journalistic material and deregister news outlets.
Under the proposed provisions, online material could fall foul of the law if authorities consider it “unsubstantiated or unverified” and believe it creates public confusion, panic or unrest. Cases would be heard by the Cyber Tribunal.
The amendment would also broaden the range of authorities able to seek the blocking of digital content.
Under the existing law, law enforcement agencies can make such requests through the director-general to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The amendment would extend that authority to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and other agencies or forces authorised by the government.
TIB said separately this month that the draft risked undermining fundamental rights and freedom of expression and called for a comprehensive revision. Other rights organisations have raised similar concerns over provisions covering misinformation, defamation and content blocking.
CIVICUS also documented a series of cases involving journalists.
In August, CPJ called on Bangladesh to drop a crimes-against-humanity case against journalists Shyamal Dutta, Mozammel Babu and Farzana Rupa.
The International Crimes Tribunal ordered prison authorities to produce the three journalists, already detained in other cases, before the tribunal on August 24.
Prosecutors allege they played a role in inciting the suppression of protesters during the 2024 uprising. They have cited questions put to Hasina during a July 14, 2024 press conference that prosecutors say contributed to remarks disparaging protesters before the subsequent crackdown.
Babu, founder and former editor-in-chief of Ekattor TV, and Rupa, the channel’s former principal correspondent, were also arrested in May in a separate ICT case concerning the 2013 security operation against Hefazat-e-Islam activists at Shapla Chattar. They were named in a formal charge sheet on July 27 alongside Hasina and 39 others.
Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj and a former general secretary of the Jatiya Press Club, has been detained since September 2024 and faces multiple murder cases.
CIVICUS documented several other incidents.
Rezanur Islam, acting editor of Dainik Agrojatra Pratidin, was arrested by Bogra Detective Branch officers on June 18 following a complaint over a report alleging corruption involving LGRD State Minister Mir Shahe Alam.
Jamuna TV reporter Akramul Islam alleged in August that a deputy commissioner in Satkhira threatened his employment after he sought information about a fugitive murder accused pursuing a land case, according to EU SEE, which monitors press freedom.
Somoy TV journalist BM Israfil was allegedly attacked in Shariatpur on August 23 after a Facebook post, suffering a fractured wrist. Three reporters covering a protest were allegedly assaulted two days later, while CIVICUS said a district BNP leader subsequently threatened further violence against journalists.
Journalist Hasan Imam Ibne Habib received an anonymous letter in Kushtia on August 26 telling him to stop writing, threatening him with death and claiming his movements were being monitored.
Two journalists in Meherpur were allegedly beaten and confined and had their equipment taken while reporting alleged examination irregularities on August 28.
On September 3, an assistant commissioner accompanied by police and Ansar personnel allegedly searched the home of journalist Rafiqul Islam Saju in Roumari, Kurigram, reportedly after Saju questioned him over a land-related decision.
CIVICUS also highlighted arrests linked to online speech.
Police detained 20-year-old student Sifat Abdullah in Gazipur on September 3 after a Facebook video in which he criticised electricity bills and made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and government-linked individuals went viral.
He was subsequently shown arrested in a pre-existing Anti-Terrorism Act case filed on June 17 over a torch procession and alleged attacks involving Awami League and Chhatra League members. Sifat had not originally been named in the case.
His bail application was rejected on September 7. Police subsequently alleged links to a banned organisation, while his lawyer said the comments in the viral video were not mentioned in the first information report.
Police also detained Mehedi Ahmed, 21, in Sylhet on September 19 over allegations that he posted abusive and derogatory comments about Rahman on Facebook.
The report cited restrictions on cultural programmes as another area of concern.
Public screenings of the government-certified Bangladeshi film Bonolota Express were stopped in Brahmanbaria on May 30 following objections from local religious student groups. Organisers said permission to use the venue was withdrawn and that they received no administrative support. A second attempted screening in Kasba was also reportedly stopped following administrative intervention.
On August 18, students from a neighbouring madrasa entered a cultural programme inside Brahmanbaria Police Lines, vandalised chairs and clashed with police. Around 30 people, including seven police personnel, were reportedly injured.
The Kishoreganj district administration cancelled a concert involving Ashes, Nobleman and other bands the following day. A local council of imams and Islamic scholars had earlier submitted a memorandum opposing the event on religious grounds.
CIVICUS cited the detention of tea workers’ rights activist Gita Rani Kanu.
Kanu was arrested by plainclothes officers in Moulvibazar on September 2 after being named as the main accused in a complaint filed by the Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union.
Front Line Defenders said she was accused of entering the union office, assaulting its general secretary, stealing cash and vandalising furniture.
The rights group disputes the allegations, saying Kanu and other protesters were receiving hospital treatment at the time for injuries suffered during a tea workers’ rights protest on August 31.
Kanu is the convener of the Bangladesh Tea Worker Women's Forum, general secretary of the Cha Sramik Moha Sangram Committee and member secretary of the Cha Sramik Adhikar Andolon.
CIVICUS also raised concerns over the National Human Rights Commission Bill 2026, passed by parliament on September 6.
It said the legislation represented a regression from safeguards contained in the NHRC Ordinance issued by the interim government in 2025 but scrapped in April.
According to the assessment, the new selection process gives government officials a dominant role in choosing commissioners responsible for investigating government conduct.
It also removes safeguards against executive interference contained in the 2025 ordinance, including an explicit prohibition on ministerial control.
CIVICUS said the law was particularly problematic in cases involving law enforcement and security agencies because those institutions could effectively investigate allegations against themselves.
The commission would lack significant powers to compel testimony, inspect premises, seize documents or independently establish facts in such cases, the monitor said.
However, CIVICUS noted improvements in the law, including requirements for representation of women and ethnic minority or disadvantaged communities among commissioners and provisions allowing the NHRC to visit most places of detention.
Parliament also passed the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Law on September 6.
Citing Fortify Rights, CIVICUS said the legislation made enforced disappearance a distinct criminal offence and provided mechanisms for investigating and prosecuting perpetrators, locating disappeared people and providing certain rights and reparations to victims and families.
But Fortify Rights said the law failed to guarantee independent investigations.
Section 14 requires victims to file complaints with the officer-in-charge of a local police station rather than an independent institution, potentially allowing security agencies implicated in abuses to investigate themselves.
The legislation also retains the death penalty as a possible punishment for enforced disappearance.
The interim government's 2025 ordinance had given an independent commission authority to enter detention facilities without prior notice.
The CIVICUS assessment also questioned the government's decision to replace the Rapid Action Battalion with the Special Response Battalion.
RAB was dissolved on September 17, with its personnel, powers, facilities, funds, assets and liabilities transferred to the newly created SRB under the Special Response Battalion Act.
The UN human rights office had recommended disbanding RAB in February 2025 following longstanding allegations of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture. Bangladesh's Police Reform Commission had also recommended reassessing the force after reviewing allegations surrounding its activities.
CIVICUS described the government's action as a rebranding rather than structural reform.
The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center also criticised the legislation, saying it retained the existing framework without sufficient human rights vetting or independent oversight.