Information and Broadcasting Minister Andaleeve Rahman today said the government has no intention of suppressing free thought, freedom of the press or journalists through the proposed Cyber Security (Amendment) Act, 2026.
“Under no circumstances are any laws being enacted with the intention of suppressing free thought, freedom of the press, or journalists,” he said.
Rather, he stressed that one of the government’s key objectives is to prevent disorder on social media, protect social harmony and curb morally degrading content in the public sphere.
He made the remarks to journalists, after a meeting to review the draft of the “Cyber Security (Amendment) Act, 2026” at the conference room of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at Bangladesh Secretariat here.
The minister said the media had previously been suppressed through various laws, including the Digital Security Act, and that the present government is extremely cautious about the possibility of such laws being misused against the media.
“The draft law is being revised with great care so that it does not contain any ambiguous (dual-meaning) words that could create opportunities for misuse against the media in the future,” he said.
He further said obscene abuse, cyberbullying and vulgar content being spread across various online and social media platforms in the name of freedom of expression are damaging social values and ethics.