Free speech will not be suppressed in the name of security, Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal tells BUP seminar

Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament Barrister Kaiser Kamal has said free speech will never be suppressed in the name of security, nor will anyone be allowed to spread disinformation under the guise of free speech in order to harm another person's dignity.

He made the remarks on Thursday (November 12) as chief guest at a seminar titled 'Challenges to security and human rights in the digital age: tackling misinformation and disinformation in the Bangladesh context', organised by the Faculty of Security and Strategic Studies (FSSS) of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP).

The Deputy Speaker said that for more than a decade the previous government had weaponised harsh digital security laws such as the ICT Act, the Digital Security Act (DSA) and the Cyber Security Act. Under the pretext of stopping rumours, those laws were used to imprison students, silence journalists and suppress dissent, he said.

He said the present government is firmly committed to ensuring that dark history is never repeated.

Addressing the students present, the Deputy Speaker said young people must not remain mere consumers of digital content; through responsibility and thoughtful judgement they must become ambassadors of truth, and value human dignity above digital popularity.

He also told the students: 'Lead this journey of digital literacy. Before sharing a sensational post or reacting to an anger-provoking video, pause, verify the source, question the purpose; refuse to let your finger become a tool of those who want to divide us.'

The Deputy Speaker paid tribute to the memory of former BUP student Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdha and all those martyred in the July mass uprising. Addressing the students, he said: 'When I look at you, I do not see only university students; I see the pioneers of the July Revolution.'

He said that in July-August 2024 it was the students who stood against fifteen years of autocratic fascist rule. When the ousted government shut down the internet completely to hide its brutality, it was they who kept the truth alive in Bangladesh. In his words, no autocrat can silence a conscious and fearless generation forever; this generation restored voting rights and gifted democracy.