Minister says Digital Security Bill finalized after discussing with journalists

Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Saturday said the recently passed Digital Security Bill 2018 was finalized after discussions with all stakeholders, including journalists.The minister said this at a roundtable discussion titled 'Privacy and Data Security' at a city hotel, organised by Telecom Reporter's Network Bangladesh (TRNB) in the afternoon, reports UNB.

The minister said: "Repeated discussions were held for at least three years among all the stakeholders, including ministries, relevant parliamentary committees and journalists...no one was excluded from the discussions."

"Those who are opposing the law, I would like to request them to compare its draft presented in parliament with the final one recently passed by it to identify the changes. All the changes were made after discussions with journalists," Jabbar said.

He said the rules of the Digital Security Bill have not been finalized yet and all the fears of journalists will go away after the formation of those.

"After the formation of a Broadcast Commission, law enforcement agencies will have to secure permission from the commission prior to the arrest of any journalist. So, there's no reason to be afraid of the bill," the minister said.

Acting chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Md Jahurul Haque, its Director General (engineering and operation) Md Mustafa Kamal, President of Bangladesh Mobile Importers' Association, Ruhul Alam Al-Mahbub Manik, executive vice-president and head of regulatory affairs of Robi, Shahed Alam, and chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Banglalink, Taimur Rahman, also spoke on the occasion.

TRNB President Muhammad Zahidul Islam and General Secretary Samir Kumar Dey moderated the program.