The United States noted that new Cyber Security Act (CSA) passed by the Bangladeshi parliament retained many aspects of the Digital Security Act.
“We regret that the government of Bangladesh did not give stakeholders adequate opportunity to review and provide input to the new law to ensure it meets international standards,” read a statement issued by the US Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.
Unfortunately, the CSA retains many aspects of its predecessor, the Digital Security Act, the statement said.
The new legislation continues to criminalise freedom of expression, retains non-bailable offences, and too easily could be misused to arrest, detain, and silence critics, it added.
