Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age: Assessing the Compatibility of Bangladesh’s Cyber Security Act 2026 with Constitutional Guarantees and International Human Rights Standards

This paper is an attempt to critically examine the Cyber Security Act 2026 of Bangladesh in the light of constitutional law, international human rights law, and comparative jurisprudence. The research makes use of doctrinal legal research and comparative analysis to review the Act with respect to Article 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 34. It finds that although there were legitimate reasons for the Act, several provisions pose fundamental constitutional challenges. These challenges stem from broad definitions provided in the act and ambiguous speech offenses including “defamatory online content,