Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul said the ‘Cyber Security Ordinance 2025’ will be announced this week, as the council of advisers approved it today.
“The gazette notification of the ‘Cyber Security Ordinance 2025’ will be issued this week after vetting of the law ministry,” he said during a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy here after a meeting of the council of advisers.
The meeting was held at the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO), where Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus was in the chair.
Highlighting the meeting’s outcomes, Dr Asif Nazrul said the cyber security ordinance will come into immediate effect once the gazette notification is issued.
In the ordinance, access to the internet has been recognised as a civic right for the first time, he said, adding that online gambling has been banned, and repression and sexual harassment of children and women in cyberspace have been recognised as punishable offences.
Nine sections have been scraped from the Cyber Security Act 2023, he said, adding that about 95 per cent of cases filed under the law were registered under the nine black sections, and those cases will be cancelled automatically.
Releasing contents on repression and sexual harassment of women and children and spreading religious hatred, which exaggerates violence, have been identified as punishable offences under the ordinance, the law adviser said.
He said committing crimes using artificial intelligence has been recognised as an offence for the first time in South Asia.
Sections related to the Liberation War, the spirit of the Liberation War, Bangabandhu, the national anthem, and the national flag have been repealed, Dr Asif Nazrul said, as a huge number of cases were filed under the nine sections to harass people.
He repeated that all the cases filed under the nine sections would be cancelled automatically.
The law adviser said the council of advisers also approved the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 and an ordinance related to the demarcation of electoral areas.
Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain and Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam attended the press briefing.
Cox’s Bazar Life Desk/BSS
