What the ICT Advisor thinks about cyber security acts and data centers
In the pretext of media freedom, Helen Lafave, Charge d'Affaires of the United States Embassy in Dhaka, asked Nahid Islam, the Information and Broadcasting and Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser on 'Cyber Security Act', and the views of the interim government. They also discussed regarding the investment of US companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Oracle in Bangladesh.
In response, Adviser Nahid firmly said, “No law will be put in conflict with international human rights law. The government will welcome any investment to protect the national interest. Also, the interim government will be tough and rigid against corruption, injustice and discrimination.”
These issues came up in the courtesy meeting held in the office room of the Secretariat's Department of Posts and Telecommunications on Tuesday. In the meeting, Nahid said that the interim government is thinking of reforming the wage board to increase the professionalism in journalism in the country. Young people are losing interest in professions like journalism due to lower salary structure. Therefore, the Wage Board reform is being contemplated.
At that time, the Public Affairs Officer of the Embassy, Stephen Ibeli, and the Commercial Counselor, John Fay, were present with her. In addition, the secretary of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications Dr. Mushfiqur Rahman, Secretary of Information and Communication Technology Division Md. Shamsul Arefin took part in the discussion in the meeting. Besides, political-economic counselor of the embassy Erich Zilan, economic officer of the US embassy James Gardiner, protocol supervisor Nishat Tasnim and others were present.
At the beginning of the discussion, Helen Lafave congratulated the adviser on his new responsibilities and wanted to know what changes in attitude have taken place as the students' representative in the government. In response, Nahid Islam said, I have come to the government as a representative of the students, so the point of view is the same. Only the working method has changed. We are working to fulfill the aspirations of the people of the country.
Regarding the interest of the US delegation about the two ministries under the advisor, Nahid said, 'I am thinking about the institutional reform of the two ministries. Proposals are being made accordingly.'
Helen LaFave talks about freedom of the press; Especially wanted to know about cyber security law. In response, the adviser said, we must ensure the freedom of the media. In the past years, Bangladesh was at the very bottom of the media freedom index. Journalists in Bangladesh have been harassed in various ways in the past days. We have seen the farce of the judicial process of journalist Sagar and Rooney's murder. The previous government has curtailed the freedom of the media with several laws. Especially cyber security laws. We are working on this law. The main thing is that we will not put any law in conflict with international human rights law.
Participating in the discussion, Stephen Ibeli wanted to know how the interim government sees the internal politics of the media houses of Bangladesh. In reply, the advisor said, there is no hindrance from our side; If journalists come forward for reforms in this matter, then we will try to solve this problem. In this regard, Bangladesh and the United States can work together on PIB, university journalism departments and training of citizen journalists.
John Fay, the commercial counselor of the United States Embassy who participated in the meeting, asked about the investment of US companies Meta, Google, Microsoft, Oracle in Bangladesh. The advisor said, "We welcome any investment that protects the national interest." Besides, there is a request to set up the data center of these companies in Bangladesh instead of India.
