Govt. mulls ways to control websites amid rising online activism

Glocal
By Editor_1
Sri Lanka looking at Singapore’s controversial Infocomm Media Development Authority Act and Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act to curb reporting and content that spread falsehoods and incite racism -Dominic Lipinski/PA
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COLOMBO – The government is contemplating legislation that will target websites whose posts it deems “defamatory” and have no visible ownership, amid concerns of a clampdown on freedom of expression.

The government will first focus on websites without names and addresses of owners, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said, elaborating that the ministries of justice and media were jointly developing a mechanism to control websites carrying allegedly defamatory content.  The idea, he said was to “protect the rights of the people” without hindering freedom of expression or freedom of the press.

Acknowledging there ought to be a balance between freedom of expression and the personal freedoms of people, he however told reporters on Tuesday (10), there was an opinion calling for some measures with regard to websites that do not have owners and defame certain people deliberately, manipulating facts.

“This is not only a problem in this country. It has been discussed in five-star democracies too, and some of them have introduced regulations,” he pointed out, without naming the countries.

Last week, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva lamented that Sri Lanka did not have China-style ‘mardana’ laws to combat social media.

In April this year, Justice Minister Ali Sabry defended a move to criminalize social media posts deemed ‘fake’ through a law to be styled after Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), a controversial piece of legislation that has drawn widespread criticism as a tool to control the media and free speech.

The minister said at the time that discussions were underway at the cabinet-level to introduce laws similar to the POFMA, a move the government of Sri Lanka has reportedly been contemplating since November last year.

Minister Rambukwella said that the lack of ownership for the stories that appear in some websites is a problem.

“There is no problem if somebody is responsible for the content or opinion expressed on their websites. But if there is nobody to take responsibility (for the content), then there should be some legal framework to deal with it. This is my personal view and my professional opinion as well,” he said.

Rambukwella said he was working with the justice minister on how to protect the rights of the people without hindering personal freedom of expression and media freedom. “We are now in the process of doing that. We need such a law in this country,” he added.

The minister said the government is obligated to protect the rights of the people as much as it must ensure media freedom. “There is a need for a legal framework to protect them. It is the duty of all,” he said.

On June 8, Sri Lanka police said citizens publishing or sharing news deemed false on social media can be arrested without a warrant, warning that anyone creating, publishing, sharing, forwarding, or otherwise aiding and abetting the spread of “fake news” on social media will be considered to have committed an offence under provisions in the police ordinance, the penal code, the prevention of terrorism act (PTA), the computer crimes act and other laws.

-economynext.com/ENCL

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