Top Newspaper Editors Express Worry over DSA to EU team

During a meeting with the European Union's (EU) Election Observation Mission today (17 July) at the EU's Gulshan 2 office, journalists discussed their concerns about the Digital Security Act (DSA).

"At first, they didn't ask directly about DSA. They inquired about the state of the press in Bangladesh. Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of the Daily Observer, remarked following the meeting, "Whether we are being able to uphold our professional duties or not.

"We told them about our recommendations on DSA that we sent to the government and that we are an united voice regardless of our differences when it comes to press freedom or DSA," he added.

The law minister said reforms to the DSA will be made by September. We want to see our recommendations in that reform, Iqbal Sobhan further said.

"We also told them media will play a role in ensuring a fair election," he added.

During the meeting, Nurul Kabir urged the EU team to submit a report that would be satisfactory to the people of Bangladesh. 

"We said we appreciate them coming over to ensure a fair election in Bangladesh. It is also sad because we never need to go to Brussels to ensure a fair election," he added.

"This is our fight, and we have to do it ourselves," Nurul Kabir said. 

Alongside Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, The Business Standard Editor Inam Ahmed, New Age Editor Nurul Kabir and Head of Prothom Alo's English Web Ayesha Kabir attended the meeting with the EU team that started at 10:30am.

The EU team has another meeting scheduled at 2.30pm today with a group of senior journalists.