HUMAN RIGHTS NO PLACE FOR CRITICISM Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary WATCH No Place for Criticism Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary Copyright © 2018 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-36017 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org MAY 2018 ISBN: 978-1-6231-36017 No Place for Criticism Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Information and Communication Act ......................................................................................... 3 Punishing Government Critics ...................................................................................................4 Protecting Religious Sentiment ................................................................................................. 5 Digital Security Act .................................................................................................................. 6 Key Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 8 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 9 I. Background ................................................................................................................... 10 History of Crackdown on Free Speech ...................................................................................... 10 Continuing Speech Restrictions .............................................................................................. 11 International Legal Standards .................................................................................................14 II. Challenges to ICT Act and Proposed Digital Security Act ................................................ 17 Section 57 .............................................................................................................................. 18 Defamation ...................................................................................................................... 18 Prejudicing the Image of the State ................................................................................... 20 Hurt to Religious Beliefs ................................................................................................... 21 Deterioration of Law and Order ......................................................................................... 21 Punitive Sentencing ......................................................................................................... 22 Writs Challenging Section 57 ................................................................................................... 23 Revised Procedures and the Digital Security Act ...................................................................... 24 III. Targeting Criticism of Government ............................................................................... 29 Targeting Known Government Critics ....................................................................................... 32 Mahmudur Rahman .......................................................................................................... 32 Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan ......................................................................... 33 Targeting Political Criticism in Social Media ............................................................................ 35 Criticizing the Prime Minister or Family Members .............................................................. 36 3 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2018 Criticizing Government, Corruption Allegations ................................................................. 43 Criticizing the International Crimes Tribunal .................................................................... 46 Criticizing the Judiciary .................................................................................................... 48 Lewd or Morphed Images of Political Leaders ................................................................... 50 IV. Crackdown on Media ................................................................................................... 53 Alleged False News .......................................................................................................... 53 Alleged Defamatory Reports ............................................................................................. 56 Alleged Personal Defamation on Social Media ................................................................. 60 V. Offending Religious Sentiment ..................................................................................... 64 VI. Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 67 To the Government of Bangladesh .......................................................................................... 67 To Donors and Key Influential Governments including the US, UK, China, and India ................ 68 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 69 Annex 1: Examples Concerning Political Criticism on Social Media .................................... 70 AKM Fahim Mashroor, CEO, bdjobs.com .................................................................................. 70 Annex 2: Cases Against Journalists for Published Reports ................................................ 82 Annex 3: Allegations of Personal Defamation on Social Media .......................................... 86 Annex 4: Offending Religious Sentiment under ICT Act ..................................................... 88 Summary On April 9, 2018, Bangladesh listed its new Digital Security Bill in parliament, which was then sent to a parliamentary standing committee for review. The proposed law is in part intended to replace section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) 2006, which has been widely criticized for restricting freedom of expression and has resulted in scores of arrests since 2013. However, the current draft of the Bill replicates, and even enhances, existing strictures of the ICT Act. This report documents abuses under section 57 of the ICT Act to warn that any new law should protect rights, not be used to crack down on critics. For instance, exactly a year ago, Monirul Islam, a rubber plantation worker in Srimongol, southern Bangladesh, experienced an unwelcomed surprise. He was arrested on April 13, 2017, accused of defaming the country’s prime minister and harming the image of Bangladesh. His crime: he had “liked” and then “shared" a Facebook post, something social media users around the world do every day. The post, allegedly from a colleague, criticized the ongoing visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to India, saying that she was meeting her Indian counterpart, “for the sake of power and to win the coming election.” The post included some cartoons of the prime minister. He was accused of offences under section 57 of the ICT Act claiming that he, and the publisher of the post, were “opposition supporters” and that the post was an “injustice,” “condemnable,” and a “betrayal to the country.” Denied bail by both the magistrate and district courts, Islam, who denies the offence, was detained for three months before the High Court released him in July 2017. Meanwhile, the author of the original post, reportedly went into hiding fearing his own arrest. *** Section 57 of ICT Act authorizes the prosecution of any person who publishes, in electronic form, material that is fake and obscene; defamatory; “tends to deprave and corrupt” its audience; causes, or may cause, “deterioration in law and order;” prejudices the image of the state or a person; or “causes or may cause hurt to religious belief.” These broad and sweeping terms invite misuse of the law. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2018 When Bangladesh first enacted the ICT Act in November 2006 to regulate digital communications, legal protections within the law limited the number of arrests and prosecutions. In 2013, the government amended the law, eliminating the need for arrest warrants and official permission to prosecute, restricting bail, and increasing prison terms if convicted. A new Cyber Tribunal dedicated to dealing with offences under the ICT Act was also established. As a result, the number of complaints to the police, arrests, and prosecutions has soared. Between 2013 and April 2018, the police submitted 1271 charge sheets, most of them under section 57 of the ICT Act. Many of these cases involved multiple accused. Often, it seems, the intent