Sri Lanka to amend Online Safety Act

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Cabinet has decided to amend the Online Safety Act, the government said on Tuesday, after it came under attack for stifling dissent and harming the potential growth of the country’s digital economy.

However, when it was decided yesterday to go for an amendment, it was not stated which clauses of the Act would be amended, according to a Cabinet note released on Tuesday after Monday’s meeting.

The legislation, accepted in January, would have led to the establishment of the Online Safety Commission, which would have been empowered to make punitive rulings on offences. A false statement online would be liable, if convicted, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand Sri Lankan rupees. The govt on Tuesday said the amendment would now be enacted with representations having been received from the industry and added, “Some of the industry-proposed amendments had been excluded in the process when the SC-recommended amendments were incorporated.”