COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to regulate online content, the speaker of the parliament announced, a law which opposition politicians and activists allege will muzzle free speech.

The Online Safety Bill proposes jail terms for content that a five-member commission considers illegal and making social media platforms such as Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, liable for such content on their platforms.

President Ranil Wickrem­esinghe’s government says the bill is aimed at battling cybercrime including child abuse, data theft and online fraud.

“Sri Lanka had 8,000 cybercrime complaints last year. We all agree that we need laws to address these issues. This is why we are bringing this law,” Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said while tabling the bill.

“It is not to suppress the media or the opposition…Any complaint will be taken up by the commission, who will be appointed by the president and they will decide how to act.” The bill was passed with a majority of 46 votes in the 225-member house.

AIC’s warning

The Asian Internet Coalition (AIC), which has Apple, Amazon, Google and Yahoo as members, warned Sri Lanka that the bill could impact investment in the country’s IT industry and called for extensive amendments to it.

“We unequivocally stand by our position that the Online Safety Bill, in its current form, is unworkable and would undermine potential growth and foreign direct investment into Sri Lanka’s digital economy,” the AIC said.

Harsha de Silva, a lawmaker of main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya, calling it a threat to democracy said this would also have a severe impact on the e-commerce sector in Sri Lanka.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024