Digital Security Act is necessary in current context: Anisul

Law Minister Anisul Huq today said that the Digital Security Act (DSA) has a significant necessity in the context of current reality.

"Nobody talks about the main purpose of the act. It is only said that this law has been made to obstruct the freedom of expression and press freedom, which is not correct at all," he said while speaking at a seminar as the chief guest in the city.

Posts and Telecommunications Division organized the seminar titled 'Safe Digital Society: The Role of the State' at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) here, said a press release.

Noting that it normal that if there is law, it might have some abuses, Huq said efforts would also be made on how to circumvent the Digital Security Act and commit crimes since the criminals always try to stay one step forward of the law enforcement agencies.

"But now police and lawmakers must try to stay two steps ahead of the real criminals," he added.

Speaking about the proposed Data Protection Act, the law minister said earlier the law was enacted without consulting with stakeholders.

"Now laws are made after holding consultation with stakeholders. The Data Protection Act will be enacted after consulting with stakeholders. There is no room for confusion," he said.

Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Commissioner Abu Syed Diljar Hussain, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) ADC Md Nazmul Islam and ICT expert journalist Rashed Mehedi spoke at the seminar, among others.

Bangladesh Government's e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-GOV CIRT) Project Director Tarique M Barkatullah presented the keynote in the seminar.