The government has, in principle, decided to abolish the Cyber Security Act

The government has, in principle, decided to repeal the Cyber Security Act, as confirmed by Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan to *The Daily Star* this afternoon. The decision was made during a meeting at the Chief Adviser's Office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.

On November 4, Information Adviser Nahid Islam announced that the Cyber Security Act would be abolished and all cases filed under it would be withdrawn. Enacted by the Awami League government last year to replace the Digital Security Act (DSA), the Cyber Security Act faced strong criticism from journalists, civil society, and the international community. Critics argued that many provisions of the DSA, which restrict freedom of speech, expression, and the press, were retained in the CSA.

As of August, there were 5,818 cases filed under the CSA across eight cyber tribunals in the country. Of these, 1,340 cases were related to speech offenses, with 461 under investigation and 879 pending in court, according to data from the law ministry.