Govt will form expert panel with journos to review cyber law: Salahuddin

The BNP government will form an expert committee comprising senior journalists and IT experts to review the proposed changes to the Cyber Protection Act, said Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Monday.

The law was passed in the parliament in April, but new amendments proposed by the government have raised concerns that it would lead to arbitrary detentions of journalists and stifling of the freedom of speech.

On Monday, a government panel held the second round of talks with a group of senior journalists to discuss the proposed changes.

In the meeting, journalists expressed their concerns that the proposed changes, if enacted, could put many people behind bars.

The journalists included editors of media outlets and leaders of journalist organisations.

In response to the proposals, Salahuddin said an independent expert committee will be formed tasked with proposing corrections to the draft amendments. The expert committee will have to submit its report within 15 days, and afterwards the cabinet will discuss the proposals from journalists and IT experts, Salahuddin said.

Afterwards, the government will formulate a bill with the necessary corrections and again upload it to the official website for collecting further feedback from the people, the home minister added.

Even when the draft bill is taken to the parliament, the treasury bench will not rush the approval process, Salahuddin said.

The journalists also called for incorporating multiple tweaks in the proposed amendments, some of which received backing from Salahuddin Ahmed.

One proposal called for requiring court permissions before detaining journalists for any potential offence under the upcoming amended law. Salahuddin, speaking on behalf to the government, agreed to incorporate the proposal in the draft.

He also said that a specific time limit will be set for the disposing of appeals to prevent indefinite harassments of any potential accused.