Cyber-security act being axed

The Cyber-security Act now gets under the axe as the council of advisers of the interim government Thursday decided in principle to repeal the contentious law.
Disclosing this, among other decisions made in a meeting of the council, Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, said the previous autocratic regime used this act as an instrument to "suppress the voice of dissent".
However, he mentions, rules will be devised to ensure cyber-security of financial structures and vulnerable groups of society like women.
Responding to a question he said that cases filed under this law by the previous government to muzzle opposition voices will be quashed. But cases filed for real cybercrimes like child pornography or violating women privacy will be continued.
The cabinet also decided to update the existing list of essential drugs so that the poor can get relief from the high prices of some drugs.
A high-level committee, led by finance adviser Dr Saleh Uddin, will review the existing list on consultation with the stakeholders, he added.
Mr Alam also told the briefing that the interim government decided to carry out documentation of the irrational expenses made by the previous government for observing the Mujib Centenary.
"Hundreds and crores of taka in taxpayers' money were misused for erecting murals and setting up Mujib Corners," he said, adding that this plundering of money was done at a moment when the government was seeking bailout funds from the IMF.
"Can you imagine Tk 117 crore spent only to erect two murals on both sides of the Padma Bridge?" he asked.
Asked comment on the statement of the Editor's Council concerns over press freedom, deputy press secretary Azad Mazumder said that the government is very serious to ensure press freedom and necessary security measures were ensured to counter any threat against media outlets of the country.
The government made it clear that it would not tolerate any kind of attack on media outlets, Mr Mazumder said.
"We are 100-percent committed to ensuring the freedom of press," Mr Alam said, adding that since the assumption of office by this government, there was not a single instance of media intimidation by the government.
None from the government ever made a phone call to any media outlet to withdraw any report, he said, pointing out that such intimidation was a regular phenomenon during the deposed regime.
He said that the government is trying hard to curb inflation, triggered mainly by floods, and already prices of some essentials came down.
The government took many measures, including lending-rate hike, to curb inflation, he noted.
The Press Secretary said the cabinet also decided to revise the Tobacco Control Act through consultations with three stakeholders.
To a question over customers' complaint that they cannot draw money from their deposits as banks are suffering from liquidity crisis, Mr Alam said the health of the banking sector is in a better shape now compared to the situation during the last regime.

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