International coalition of organisations asks Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission to withdraw and reconsider dangerous draft rules

An international coalition of 45 organizations calls on the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to withdraw and reconsider the “Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Regulation for Digital, Social Media and OTT Platforms”

The signing organizations, in the joint letter submitted on March 4, urge the BTRC to protect people’s rights and freedoms, and enable an open, free and secure internet in Bangladesh. The draft Draft Regulations, published online on February 3, imperils people’s freedom of expression, and right to privacy, undermines encryption and weakens online safety. If enforced, the regulations will have a deleterious impact on human rights, and put journalists, dissidents, activists and vulnerable communities, in particular, at greater risk. We respectfully call upon the BTRC to withdraw and reconsider the Draft Regulations, as they erode digital security and put human rights and freedoms at risk. The BTRC must frame its consultation around the exact problems it wishes to address and engage with stakeholders on what regulatory options are best suited to address them, rather than forcing through one, overbroad set of regulations.

In order to protect human rights and enable a free, open and secure internet, it is imperative for the BTRC to withdraw and reconsider the Draft Regulations. Further, sustained, meaningful and in-depth consultation with stakeholders is a prerequisite to the development of a rights-respecting framework. The signing organisations urge the BTRC to engage in such a process prior to developing regulations for intermediaries and digital services that would impact people’s rights and freedoms, and indeed democracy itself.

1. Access Now 2. Article 19 3. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 4. Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 5. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre 6. CCAOI 7. Center for Democracy & Technology 8. Center for Media Research – Nepal (CMR-Nepal) 9. Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) 10. Committee to Protect Journalists 11. Digital Democratic Collaboration (DACol) 12. Digital Empowerment Foundation, India 13. Electronic Frontier Foundation 14. Encrypt Uganda 15. Global Partners Digital 16. Global Voices 17. Human Rights Watch 18. Innovation Solution Lab 19. International Council of Indian Muslims (ICIM) 20. Internet Freedom Foundation, India 21. Internet Society 22. Internet Society Catalan Chapter (ISOC-CAT) 23. Internet Society Delhi Chapter 24. Internet Society Hyderabad Chapter 25. Internet Society Venezuelan Chapter (ISOCVE) 26. Internet Society, Kenya Chapter 27. Interpeer Project 28. Kapil Goyal (Individual) 29. KICTANet 30. Kijiji Yeetu 31. Last Mile4D 32. Manushya Foundation 33. National Corruption Control & Human welfare organization (NCCHWO),India 34. OpenMedia 35. Open Knowledge Foundation 36. Organization of the Justice Campaign 37. PEN America 38. Ranking Digital Rights 39. SFLC.in 40. Simply Secure 41. Tech for Good Asia 42. The Tor Project 43. UBUNTEAM 44. Vaultree 45. Wikimedia Foundation.