The draft Telecommunication Ordinance 2025

For decades, Bangladesh's digital network has operated under the constant threat of arbitrary executive interferences. Access to the internet could be severed without notice or remedy whenever there emerged any political tension within the country.

Importantly, Bangladesh lacked any explicit statutory basis for such interferences. Orders were conveyed orally or through encrypted messages from the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) to operators, with no publication or review. The result was a legal vacuum, where fundamental rights under the Constitution, of being treated only in accordance with law and the right to free speech, expression could be suspended by administrative discretion alone.

Against that backdrop, the draft Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 presents quite a transformative development. It says that "no telecommunication connection, service or internet access shall be shut down, disrupted or restricted under any circumstances". This mandate, if materialised, will be in line with global jurisprudence on freedom of expression and information protected by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It will also stand in alignment with Bangladesh with the position of the UN Human Rights Council, which in 2022 reaffirmed that blanket internet shutdowns can never be justified.

However, a single prohibitory clause does not take us far. From a governance perspective, the new ordinance should also introduce institutional safeguards to ensure that the promise of non-interference survives changes in political will. While the draft law has provisions for parliamentary and judicial oversight, there is still room for improvement. First, in line with the EU Digital Services Act 2022, the operators, independent of government regulators, should be made obligated to publish reports detailing any governmental request affecting network operators. This will potentially ensure transparency and accountability in governance and ensure their conformity with the right to information.

Furthermore, an independent digital rights commission to investigate violations, audit state use of digital powers, and provide remedies could also be established. Similar commissions exist under the African Union Model Law on Access to Information (2013). A digital compensation fund should also be formed to provide redress when governmental action or inaction causes any quantifiable loss to businesses. Finally, the draft Ordinance should be harmonised with the data protection laws in order to ensure that the right to connectivity complements the right to privacy under Article 43 of the Constitution.

Internationally, Bangladesh has often been cited by Access Now and Article 19 for its opaque handling of digital governance. With the new ordinance being passed and implemented, the country could potentially transform from a case study in digital authoritarianism into a regional model of digital democracy.

The writer is student of law at Bangladesh University of Professionals.