FROM PAGE 1

and 31 of the DSA will be cancelled, and no further action can be taken on them. All convictions will be annulled as well.

These sections pertain to offences involving speech and online expression, including defamation, dissemination of false or offensive information, hurting religious sentiments, identity misuse, and digital content considered harmful to the Liberation War, national symbols, or social and communal harmony.

However, the amendment does not mention those facing charges under similar sections of DSA’s successor, the Cyber Security Act (CSA), which was repealed by the interim government.

The decisions of yesterday’s meeting were announced at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy by Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, chief adviser’s special assistant for information and communication technology affairs;Shafiqul Alam, CA’s press secretary; and Shish Hayder Chowdhury, ICT secretary.

Taiyeb said that 95 percent of those accused under the DSA have already been relieved.

Prior to the repeal of the CSA, the law ministry calculated last year that there were 1,340 cases involving speech-related offences. A majority of those, 879, were being tried at cyber tribunals, while 461 were under investigation. Of them, 786 cases were filed under the Digital Security Act and 275 under the Cyber Security Act.

According to data collected by the Centre for Governance Studies, at least 3,208 named and 2,080 unnamed people have been sued under the DSA for online expression between October 2018 and August 2024. Another 372 people have been prosecuted under the CSA.

These figures do not include the cases filed for sexual harassment, blackmail, and fraud.

Of those accused, nearly half were prosecuted for social media posts deemed critical of the government, office holders, or elected representatives.

One in every three of those accused under the DSA and one in every four of those accused under the CSA were journalists.