Journalists in Bangladesh continue to operate in a hostile and dangerous environment, often facing physical attacks and threats, as well as judicial and legal harassment, according to IPI monitoring data from October 2022 – March 2023. 

IPI documented at least 42 press freedom threats or violations during this six-month period, half of which were reported cases of physical, verbal, or online attacks against journalists. In multiple cases, journalists were assaulted while reporting on the news or at political rallies ahead of Bangladesh’s 2023 parliamentary elections.

In some cases, journalists were directly targeted in retaliation for publishing stories on government officials. In December 2022, a journalist was abducted, threatened at gunpoint, and beaten at a local government office in the Rangunia region of Chittagong for his reporting on illegally operating brick kilns. In March 2023, the brother of an investigative journalist was brutally beaten with iron rods by a group of unknown men outside his home. 

Draconian laws restricting independent journalism continue to choke press freedom and democracy. Independent media are silenced under a series of laws, which include the Digital Security Act (DSA), the criminal code, and the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. At least 9 journalists were charged under the DSA during this reporting period, a draconian and broadly-worded law that has been deployed since 2018 to punish and jail journalists in retaliation for reporting critical news.

IPI monitors and collects data on press freedom violations in Pakistan as part of a cross-border project that brings together partner media outlets in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal to create public awareness about attacks on journalists and highlight the decline of press freedom across South Asia.