The two leading state broadcasters, Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar radio, function as government propaganda outlets, as does the state-owned national news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). The private sector media landscape includes 3,000 print media outlets, daily or periodic, 30 radio stations – including some community radio stations – 30 TV channels and several hundred news sites. In this landscape, the pro-government news channels Somoy TV and Ekattor TV are very popular. There are no independent or opposition-owned TV news channels. The country’s two leading dailies, the Bengali-language Prothom Alo and the English-language Daily Star, manage to maintain a certain editorial independence.

Since the country’s independence in 1971, successive governments have treated the media as a communication tool. That of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in power since 2009, is no exception. Supporters of her party, the Awami League, regularly launch violent physical attacks targeted against journalists they dislike, while judicial harassment campaigns are carried out to silence certain journalists or force media outlets to close. In such a hostile environment, editors carefully avoid challenging anything the government says. 

A few months before the national elections on 7 January 2024, the government introduced the Cyber Security Act (CSA), a poor copy of the Digital Security Act (DSA), one of the world’s most draconian laws for journalists. Specifically, it allows: searches and arrests without a warrant; the seizure of electronic equipment; violation of the confidentiality of sources on arbitrary grounds; and sentences of up to 14 years in prison for any journalist who publishes information deemed to be “propaganda against (...) the Father of the Nation,” namely the current prime minister’s father. In this environment, editors routinely censor themselves.

Most of the leading privately owned media are owned by a handful of great businessmen who emerged during Bangladesh’s economic boom. They see their media outlets as tools of influence and profitability, and to that end, they prioritse good relations with the government over safeguarding editorial independence. As a result, it is very often government representatives who decide who will be the guests on the evening talk shows on privately owned TV channels. Many newspapers are dependent on state funding and imported newsprint.

Although defined as a secular country in the constitution, Bangladesh recognises Islam as the state religion. This ambiguity is reflected in the media, where anything relating to religious issues is off limits. The mainstream media never address the issue of religious minorities, although they number 10 million in Bangladesh. In the past decade, radical Islamist groups have waged extremely violent campaigns that have led to the murders of journalists. These groups now use social media to track down and harass journalists who defend secularism, the right to alternative opinions and freedom of religion.

Exposed to police violence, attacks by political activists and murders orchestrated by Jihadist or criminal organisations, Bangladeshi journalists are all the more vulnerable because this violence goes unpunished. The DSA is often used to keep journalists and bloggers in prison, in appalling conditions. And in a profession that is still predominantly male, women journalists are exposed to a deeply rooted culture of harassment and are subjected to online hate campaigns when they try to publicly defend their rights.