Joy slams editors' body on Digital Security Act -The Asian Age
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Information and Commu-nication Technology (ICT) Adviser to the Prime Minister has denounced Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council) for objecting to the Digital Security Act.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy posted on facebook about Editors' Council, "They clearly do not have any ethics. In fact Editors' Council wants to be allowed to malign the government with false propagations."
He has raised the question where the country's future would stand if editors make such plans against Sheikh Hasina. Sajeeb Wazed Joy made references to an unverified graft allegation against Sheikh Hasina in The Daily Star during the last caretaker government's regime.
He added that The Daily Star's editor Mahfuz Anam admitted his fault about this news on Sheikh Hasina eight years later while discussing the issue on a television channel.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy said, "Mahfuz Anam, who is the present head of Editors' Council confessed on a television channel that false and purposive reports on corruption involving Sheikh Hasina were printed during the 1/11 government."
Sajeeb Wazed Joy further said that if it was United States or European Union then Mahfuz Anam would have been compelled to quit journalism. Different journalists organizations including Editors' Council have frequently opposed certain aspects of the Digital Security Act. However, it was passed in the Parliament on 19 September.
Editors' Council has meanwhile held meetings with Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Posts and Telecommu-nications Minister Mostafa Jabbar. The ministers assured that the points of the Digital Security Act which have been opposed by Editors' Council would be discussed in the Cabinet.
Editors' Council has contradicted with sections 8, 21, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 43 and 53 of the act. A number of journalists have expressed worries that the Digital Security Act would confine the independence of newspapers and media agencies and would jeopardize the safety of journalists.
Besides, editors of different news platforms have stated that even constructive criticism of the government would be strangulated by the Digital Security Act.
According to some journalists unions, news items on corruption, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings cannot be printed if the Digital Security Act comes into effect. It would put freedom of press into grave perils, several journalists have remarked.
On the other hand, the government has asserted that there is nothing to worry about this law if newspapers do not practice yellow journalism. Digital Security Act will be utilized to resist the spread of malicious, false and provocative content on social media and through online news portals and it does not aim to curtail the liberty of press, the government has repeatedly said.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that all journalists should work with integrity. Journalists even in the United States and European Union have to work abiding by the law, he commented. Joy further said that the Digital Security Act intends to prevent the belittlement of the spirit of the Liberation War of 1971, father of the nation, national flag and national anthem.
This section of the Digital Security Act is based on the Holocaust Denial Law of European Union. Joy stated that those who oppose this particular section of the law are supporters of Jamaat.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy emphasized that Digital Security Act will be helpful to halt the publicity of rumours and religious provocation through online sites. He added that such laws exist in all countries.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son Joy has said that the members of Editors' Council should first implement their own ethical correction before speaking against Digital Security Act.