Digital Security Act is total insecurity for free expression

Terming the Digital Security Bill draconian, some legal experts said freedom of expression would no longer exist in the country if the law was enacted. The Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights, a citizen’s platform, organised the discussion. It said many sections in the Bill contained vague wordings, leaving room for misuse or misinterpretation, which would ultimately curb people’s liberty and rights.
The much-debated Digital Security Bill 2018 was passed in Jatiya Sangsad on September 19 with harsh provisions allowing police to search or arrest anyone without a warrant. Journalists and rights activists have expressed concerns about the new law, saying it was passed without addressing their concerns.
The Right to Information Act, 2009 was the only law that gave people the right to hold the government accountable. But the government is neglecting its citizens by passing the Digital Security Bill. Vagueness in the wording regarding the formation of the Digital Security Agency, Emergency Response Team, Digital Security Council and their powers exist, which should not be the ease. Keeping a law vague means that the definition of the law, or the reach of the law, is not circumscribed–which makes it dangerous.
The intent of the law, while seemingly to protect against virtual or cybercrime, can, in effect, be used to effectively muzzle any dissent against anyone, whether it be the state or an individual or an organisation like a political party. What provision is there, say, to combat the nefarious intentions of a future tyrannical government or administration, should one exist to nuzzle the rights or the will of the people?
Among the greatest of freedoms is the right to freedom of expression. Unfortunately we have no such enshrinement of this freedom in our Constitution. So it can’t be said that it is ultra vires to it. Section 39(2) of the Constitution enables the government to pass any law to safeguard the interests of the state. So we don’t have a Bill of Rights like that of the US Constitution to counter it.  
We have seen examples of the power of journalism –it toppled a government (Malaysia) and forced the world to look at a country differently (Myanmar). There is no substitute for proper investigative journalism to uncover the corruption and malaise within any government.