Journalists working in Bangladesh have to operate in a hostile and dangerous environment, often facing physical attacks and threats, legal harassment and arrests, as well as censorship and surveillance, said International Press Institute (IPI).
"Draconian laws restricting independent journalism continue to choke press freedom and democracy," the IPI said in its Monitoring Report (September-April 2022).
The IPI said that it identified at least 30 press freedom violations in a six-month period between April and September 2022, which included cases of physical attacks on journalists, as well as arrests and the introduction of restrictive cyber regulations.
"Two journalists were killed in Bangladesh in this period. On April 13, journalist Mohiuddin Sarkar Nayeem was shot and killed near the Bangladesh-India border by alleged drug traffickers. He had previously reported on drug trafficking in the area. On July 7 journalist Hasibur Rahman Rubel, working for the daily newspaper Dainik Kushtiar Khobor, was found dead in western Bangladesh after going missing. The journalist's family said Rubel was deliberately killed for his work as a reporter," the report said.
The report also said: "At least three journalists were charged under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has been used to target hundreds of journalists since it was introduced in 2018. During this monitoring period, the government proposed restrictive new measures for digital and OTT platforms that would further stifle press freedom."
"The draft regulations would prohibit digital and social media platforms from displaying content threatening the 'unity, integrity, defense, security, or sovereignty of Bangladesh' and content that could be deemed critical of the national anthem or flag. It would also require intermediaries, such as WhatsApp and Signal, to enable traceability and the identification of any suspects deemed to be violating the guidelines outlined in the draft regulations," it further added.
