Three government ministers and an advisor sat in a meeting with the editorial board on the digital security law. The meeting started at 12:30 pm on Sunday (September 30) in the conference room of the Ministry of Information.
Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mostafa Jabbar and Prime Minister's Information Affairs Advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury are present in the meeting.
On the other hand, among the editors are Riaz Uddin Ahmed of News Today, Matiur Rahman of Prothom Alo, Mahfuz Anam of Daily Star, Saiful Alam of Jugantar, Nurul Kabir of NewAge, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury of Manabzamin, Imdadul Haque Milan of Kaler Kanth, Khandkar Moniruzzaman of Sangbad, Naeem Nizam of Bangladesh Pratidin, AMM of Inqilab. Bahauddin and Dewan Hanif Mahmud of Merchant Barta.
Apart from this, a meeting will be held with Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) at 3 pm.
After that, the government delegation will meet with Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU). Earlier last Wednesday (September 19) the widely discussed Digital Security Bill was passed in the National Parliament.
Journalists objected to various sections of this law, but they were not taken into consideration. Rather, the contentious Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act has been differently incorporated into the Digital Security Act and the colonial-era 'Official Secrets Act-1923' has been incorporated into Section 32 of the Act, creating fresh concerns among media workers.
Meanwhile, after the passing of this law, all organizations of journalists, including the editors' council, have been opposing it.
At the same time expressing concern over the passing of the law, after the meeting held on September 22, the editorial board announced a human chain program in front of the National Press Club at 11 am on September 29. Later on September 26, a letter signed by Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu was sent to the General Secretary of the Editor Council. In the letter, suspending the human chain program, the editors urged the council to hold a meeting on the digital security law in the conference room of the information ministry on September 30. In view of this, the editorial board agreed to participate in the meeting by suspending the human bond. However, the editorial board said that if the discussion is not fruitful, the protest program will continue.
