The Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) yesterday hailed the government’s move on the Digital Security Bill to curb anarchy and abuse of digital platforms. At the same time, however, ATCO members demanded for a rule alongside the proposed law for protecting journalists from “unnecessary harassment” while broadcasting or publishing news. The ATCO members said the Bill has given intensive power to the police to arrest anybody, including journalists, without any warrant and this was not desirable. The ATCO members said they would soon meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the matter.

The members came up with the observations at an ATCO meeting in Dhaka. Among others, ATCO president Salman F Rahman, who is also the chairman of Independent Television, was present at the meeting. Talking to reporters later, Rahman said: “We discussed various issues including the Digital Security Bill in the meeting. We will meet the PM and express our concerns to her. Then, we will come up with our full view on the matter.”

ATCO vice-president Mozammel Babu, who is also the managing director of Ekattor TV, said: “We welcome the government’s move to introduce the law to curb anarchy and misuse of digital platforms. But we have certain reservations about the law as it has given intensive power to police to arrest anybody without any warrant—this is a matter of concern.” “Under such circumstances, we have demanded for a rule alongside the law for the protection of journalists from unnecessary harassment by law enforcers,” he added.

The ATCO meeting came just a day after a press conference by the PM at Ganabhaban. Hasina said journalists who did not provide false news need not be worried over the recently passed Digital Security Bill, 2018. “If anybody doesn’t have any criminal mindset or any plan to commit any offence in future, then there is nothing for him/her to be worried about,” the PM said.

“There is nothing here (in the Bill) for a journalist to be worried if he/she doesn’t falsely blame anyone and mislead people with false information,” she added. Regarding television rating points (TRP), Rahman pointed out that it failed to properly measure the popularity of TV programmes because of flawed data.

He suggested that an agency should be formed to determine TRP. ATCO members will meet on October 30 to decide on the formation of such an agency, he added. The ATCO president said that foreign TV channels are being broadcast in the country without following the broadcast policy. According to the policy, advertisements cannot be broadcast in foreign channels, he said, adding that the government should intervene to stop this policy violation.