Bangladesh government admits its cybersecurity laws are outdated. AI tools are creating new ways to harm women online, and the current legal system can’t keep up.
Bangladesh has laws in place to deal with cyberbullying, harassment and digital violence against women. But the law minister said the rapid growth of AI was presenting new risks that current rules were never designed to deal with.
The government is now reviewing its legislation and looking at the response of other countries and has already begun consultations with interested parties on possible changes. Officials are proceeding cautiously, as any changes touch on freedom of expression and need broad and participatory debate before they can become law.
The Magnitude Of The Issue
The numbers behind this choice are hard to ignore. Recent research has shown that more than 63 per cent of women in Bangladesh have been subjected to some form of violence online. Nearly three-quarters of victims are women aged 18 to 30. Most of the incidents occur on Facebook and Messenger.
Since 2020, the Cyber Support for Women unit of Bangladesh Police has received more than 60,000 complaints from women, and now AI-generated deepfakes constitute a growing percentage of that total. Most cases are still unreported. Experts say only about 15 per cent of victims come forward, deterred by fears of stigma and further harassment.
When the Law Doesn’t Work”
And even for women who do report, the system often fails them anyway. One woman saw a deepfake video of herself making the rounds online, a totally fake clip made with AI. She tried to file a case, but police referred her to the court, and the court dismissed her case on technicalities. She still doesn’t know where to turn, with the perpetrators still at large.
Part of the problem is in the law itself. Bangladesh replaced the Cyber Security Act 2023 with the Cyber Security Ordinance 2025, which criminalises blackmail, revenge porn, sextortion and AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Legal experts, though, see one big weakness. Currently, all offences under Section 25 are bailable, even when a deepfake has caused lasting reputational harm. Someone can destroy a life and still be free on bail.
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Deepfakes Powered by Local Vulnerabilities
Researchers studying the experiences of Bangladeshi women with deepfakes found something disturbing. Perpetrators are all too aware of how local social structures work, and they exploit family honour, community judgement and the shame of digital exposure to inflict maximum harm. Many victims choose not to report the abuse because they fear that a complaint will only draw more attention to the abuse.
This risk has been visible in high-profile cases. One case involved a government adviser whose face was superimposed onto a body taken from an adult website and widely circulated from a repeat offender’s Facebook account.
What Reform Might Look Like
Legal experts say Bangladesh’s laws should be in tune with the technology and not lag behind by years. That could include removing bail eligibility for serious AI-enabled offences, clearer legal definitions for synthetic content and stronger coordination between police, courts and platforms like Facebook.
The interim government has already taken a step in this direction with the Personal Data Protection Ordinance 2025, which adds consent requirements and breach reporting rules.
It is not yet clear whether the forthcoming amendments go far enough. For now, women in Bangladesh are facing a threat that is quicker than the law is supposed to protect them.
