We are deeply alarmed by the accelerating assault on free speech in the country since the onset of the pandemic, with the authorities seeming more eager to criminalise criticisms of the health sector and other public services rather than in ensuring accountability and transparency of its institutions. Each passing day, we seem to be falling further and further down the rabbit hole of repression—so much so, that it is no longer safe for the media, general populace or civil servants to raise questions, comment on or even “like” posts that are mildly critical of state mechanisms, even if they are objectively accurate.
According to data gleaned from the Bangladesh Peace Observatory (BPO), a project by Dhaka University’s Centre for Genocide Studies, at least 142 people, including journalists, have been arrested or detained since March for reporting, spreading so-called “misinformed” news, or their social media activity. This excludes people who have been penalised within their workplaces for their expression of critical views or whose cases under the Digital Security Act were not reported in the media. Meanwhile, civil servants and health sector professionals have been instructed through multiple directives to stay silent and refrain from sharing any information with the media or on their social media platforms—or risk being arrested, suspended and transferred by being made “officer on special duty”.
Under the circumstances, media professionals are finding it extremely challenging to carry out their mandate of providing accurate and reliable information to the public. The situation is even more dire as journalists are unable to follow-up on or ask questions to top officials of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) since April 8 regarding the daily press briefings as no question is permitted. Yet, do the public not have a right to know and hold state institutions, which are run by taxpayers’ money, to account? During a pandemic, when the public is particularly susceptible to misinformation and fear mongering, they need the free flow of authentic information to constructively engage in the decisions that affect them. The authorities in turn, need to listen to the grievances of the people, and take timely and adequate measures to address legitimate concerns rather than quell them through increasingly repressive measures, which only erode trust in state institutions.
Why are we so bent on criminalising criticism and controlling the free flow of information? No democratic government worries about an informed, connected and empowered populace.
