personal data flows and online content.
By leveraging operating licenses as a
means of influence, the government
granted itself broad powers, including
the ability to shut down or throttle
internet access, remove online content
arbitrarily, and penalize human rights
defenders, activists, and journalists for
content deemed “anti-government”
(Diya, 2024). In the absence of
institutional checks and balances and
with weak technological infrastructure,
data governance became largely
synonymous to state control with
oversight responsibilities haphazardly
distributed, and significant barriers to
non-state actors’ ability to hold
authorities accountable. Public dissent
is severely restricted due to limited legal
challenges against judicial overreach,
uncertainty over which regulatory body
holds responsibility, and a general lack
of access to information for civil
society. More broadly, the framing of
rights as human rights versus
constitutional rights does little to
safeguard freedoms, as economic and
political priorities routinely take
precedence over human rights
concerns.
TABLE 1 - RELEVANT TECH-RELATED POLICIES IN BANGLADESH
Law
●
Bangladesh
Telecommunication
Regulation Act,
2001
Information and
Communication
Technology Act,
2006
Pornography
Control Act, 2012
●
●
●
●
●
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Description
Established a commission (BTRC) to regulate
telecommunication and internet service providers.
Criminalizes various expressions, allows blocking and
monitoring of communications.
Grants the Ministry of Home Affairs and intelligence
authorities authority to collect user data for national
security, public order, and other vague grounds.
Aimed at securing online content and electronic data.
Allowed government interception powers for national
security, sovereignty, public order, and foreign affairs.
Granted state authorities broad and arbitrary authority under
now repealed section 57 to curtail free speech, with similar
concerns continuing under later laws.
Criminalizes possession, distribution, production, and use of
pornography, including child pornography and content likely
to arouse sexual desire.
9