The impact on Freedom of Expression in the age of Digital Security Act, 2018 of Bangladesh

Abstract

Freedom of expression is recognized as a fundamental human right in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is a notion that permits a person or a group of people to express themselves without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal consequences. The ICCPR acknowledges the same. According to the ICCPR, embodying and exercising these fundamental rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and is "subject to certain restrictions" when it is essential "to respect the rights or reputation of others'' or "to protect national security, public order, public health and morals." Major ideas of opportunity and articulation have gone all of the time hand in hand with the proper application of the law and the presence of a fair and simply equitable society, and the founding fathers put this into effect through constitutional indoctrination. Bangladesh's government approved the Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA), a contentious piece of legislation, in 2018. The DSA was supposed to be a light of hope, replacing over a thousand persons who have been imprisoned under the ICT Act., and opening up the internet to freedom of expression. However, critics have agreed that the DSA is a more oppressive version of the ICT Act. Several elements of the DSA are clearly incompatible with global merit for online freedom of expression. The right to freedom of expression is a fundamental right under the ICCPR, although it is not absolute. However, this does not imply that the state can arbitrarily restrict freedom of expression. According to Article 19(3) of the ICCPR, the state may tolerate restrictions on legitimate rights in order to achieve a lawful goal which is considered obligatory and appropriate for maintaining stability in a democratic society. In fact, consequently, the claimed explanation has given the Bangladeshi government enormous authority to censor and retaliate against critics, as well as to initiate an argument about their activities. Bangladesh's DSA has the potential to restrict and limit freedom of expression. This paper will look at the effects of Bangladesh's DSA and show how it has been and might be used to marginalize and control particular groups' viewpoints.