Freedom of expression in social media in Bangladesh

Abstract

Social media is the best platform for freedom of expression nowadays. As Bangladesh is a democratic country, it provides the right to express an individual's opinion under the Constitution of People's Republic of Bangladesh. The country has several obligations as well as restrictions towards freedom of expression because the constitution has two different Acts namely the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Act 2006 (which was amended in 2013) and the Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018. These Acts give freedom of speech and expression with restrictions while the Constitution clearly provides "the right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression" under Article 39(2). However, people all over the world, including the people of Bangladesh, are used to express their opinion in social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, blogs and other platforms at this age of modernization. Claims are being made in Bangladesh that the citizens are not enjoying their rights to freedom of expression properly and cannot use the social media as a way to freely express their opinion. Having stated the problem, this study has found the loopholes leading to the violation of the right to express an opinion. This study has also identified and examined the current laws and regulations providing the people their freedom of expression in social media. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of present laws to protect and restrict the freedom of expression or rights to express an opinion have been explored. The qualitative research approach was used to identify gaps in these laws and regulations to protect the people's rights of expression. The Constitution of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh contains the main source of the right to express opinions freely, while the Information and Communication Act 2006 and the Digital Security Act 2018 are the core Acts to be explored to come up with a solution. This study has also reviewed other laws and regulations with scholarly articles, books, reports, magazines, newspapers, biogs and so on to present previous and recent incidents that took place due to the use of social media and expressing an opinion. Finally, the researcher has found that social media is the only platform that the people of Bangladesh choose to express their opinion today and they do not feel comfortable with the current laws. There should be amendments in both of the ICT and DSA Acts, and retraction should be limited in terms of the people's right to expression and right to information. Therefore, this study concluded with a few recommendations for the government and other authorities related to human rights for further action.