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The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Tuesday passed the Cyber Security (Amendment) Bill, 2026, aiming to facilitate the swift removal of harmful and defamatory AI-generated content from social media platforms.
Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam placed the bill before the House, where it was passed unanimously by voice vote with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir-Bikram, presiding.
Before the bill was passed, opposition lawmakers from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami — Shahjahan Chowdhury, M Abdul Gafur, Zahirul Islam, GM Nazrul Islam and Amir Hamza — along with Independent lawmakers Rumeen Farhana and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal, urged the House to send the bill to a review committee and seek public opinion. Their proposal was later rejected by voice vote.
Placing the bill, the minister said the proposed amendments would require international technology platforms, including Meta, to remove disputed content within a specified timeframe.
He said the amendments would also revise the definitions of misinformation and defamation and introduce stricter penalties for violations.
According to the minister, neighbouring countries already have legal provisions requiring platforms such as Meta to remove content within 24 hours, while Bangladesh’s existing legal framework lacks such enforcement mechanisms.
Under the amended law, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and other authorised agencies will be empowered to block content and request user data from digital platforms.
Earlier, on June 27, the House sent the draft law to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for scrutiny and asked it to submit a report within three days.
