Dhaka Proposes Sweeping Cyber Law Revisions to Curb Misinformation

The Bangladeshi government is actively considering extensive revisions to its national legislative framework to bring individuals who disseminate online rumours, malicious propaganda, and orchestrated misinformation within the formal purview of the Cyber Protection Act. Fakir Mahbub Anam, the Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, announced these strategic legislative developments during a parliamentary question-and-answer session on Wednesday. The state has initiated an array of synchronized legal, technical, and institutional measures designed specifically to suppress digital disinformation campaigns routinely weaponised via anonymous or fabricated social media profiles.

The policy disclosure transpired in the Jatiya Sangsad during an open session presided over by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed. Minister Anam was responding directly to a formal query tabled by Member of Parliament Md Shahadat Hossain Selim, representing the Lakshmipur-1 constituency, who raised concerns over the escalating rate of digital defamation.

Platform Oversight and Regulatory Deficits

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) maintains active, continuous lines of communication with multinational technology conglomerates—including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok—to expedite the removal of harmful, fraudulent, or destabilising content. Concurrently, domestic law enforcement agencies are upgrading their digital forensics capabilities to unmask anonymous users, track down malicious actors, and investigate complex cybercrimes. The administration emphasizes that it remains deeply committed to refining regulatory architectures and promoting digital literacy to foster an objective, responsible media landscape whilst actively penalising yellow journalism.

Despite these grand policy objectives, structural deficiencies persist within the regulatory apparatus. Answering a separate inquiry from Md Golam Rosul, the Member of Parliament for Jessore-4, Minister Anam admitted that the BTRC faces significant infrastructural bottlenecks. Under current protocols, the commission can only issue blocking directives to digital platforms, content hosts, and telecommunications operators upon receiving an explicit request from the National Cyber Security Agency, intelligence units, or law enforcement bodies. The Minister revealed that the BTRC does not currently possess independent technical equipment to execute automated sweeps or intercept online content autonomously, forcing it to rely entirely on manual reporting and external agency prompts.

Banking Protections and Telecommunications Audits

To counter the sharp rise in mobile banking fraud, the BTRC is collaborating with Bangladesh Bank to procure modern data-verification hardware. This state-of-the-art equipment will enable financial regulators to verify the registration records of Mobile Financial Services (MFS) subscribers in real-time. In tandem with these financial safeguards, the ministry has introduced a pilot scheme testing facial-recognition verification protocols during standard mobile SIM card registration processes, a move designed to eliminate identity theft loopholes exploited by digital fraudsters.

The legislative session also provided essential clarity regarding other vital state enterprises managed by the ministry. Responding to an inquiry from Dewan Mohammad Salahuddin, representing the Dhaka-19 constituency, the Minister confirmed that the fixed landline subscriber base of the state-run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) currently stands at approximately 340,000 users.

Finally, answering a query from Cumilla-4 representative Md Abul Hasnat, the Minister disclosed the official balance sheet of the nation’s inaugural orbit communication satellite, Bangladesh Satellite-1. From the financial year 2020-21 to 2024-25, the commercial exploitation of the space asset generated a total revenue of 764.10 crore Taka, yielding a cumulative net profit of 163.97 crore Taka. Because the statistical datasets across these distinct public portfolios contain fewer than ten independent rows of data, the figures have been woven directly into the narrative text rather than being isolated in a statistical table.