Sri Lanka’s Parliament has handed a rapidly proposed invoice to control on-line content material, sparking criticism from rights teams and opposition politicians that the federal government is attempting to crack down on dissent and stifle freedom of speech forward of parliamentary and presidential elections this yr.
The measure was handed on Wednesday by a 108-62 vote, the speaker introduced.
Below the On-line Security Invoice, content material creators deemed to be posting “unlawful” materials by a five-member fee will likely be punished with jail sentences. It additionally holds corporations resembling Google, Fb and X accountable for content material posted on their platforms.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s authorities mentioned the invoice, offered to the legislature simply at some point earlier than Wednesday’s vote, was geared toward battling cybercrimes, together with baby abuse, information theft and on-line fraud.
The nation logged 8,000 cybercrimes final yr, mentioned Public Safety Minister Tiran Alles, who denied the laws would affect freedom of speech.
“It isn’t to suppress the media or the opposition. … Any grievance will likely be taken up by the fee, who will likely be appointed by the president, and they’ll determine how you can act,” Alles mentioned.
Human Rights Watch criticised the invoice, warning that members of the On-line Security Fee would have arbitrary powers to “determine what on-line speech is ‘false’ or ‘dangerous’, take away content material, limit and prohibit web entry, and prosecute people and organizations”.
Offenses beneath the invoice carry hefty fines and jail sentences of as much as 5 years, the worldwide rights group mentioned.
Protests
After Wednesday’s vote, a small group of activists and opposition members protested exterior parliament.
Harsha de Silva, a lawmaker from the primary opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya, instructed parliament the laws was “a risk to our democracy”.
“It will have a extreme unfavorable affect on increasing e-commerce in Sri Lanka, to offer jobs to our youth and assist our economic system, which is in determined want of progress.”
On Tuesday, when lawmakers began debating the invoice, Eran Wickramaratne, additionally from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, mentioned he didn’t perceive why the federal government was in such a rush to go it.
“We must always take extra time and have a greater method to passing legal guidelines which are this important,” he mentioned.
The Asian Web Coalition (AIC), which has Apple, Amazon, Google and Yahoo as members, warned that the invoice was a “draconian system to stifle dissent”, and mentioned it “might undermine the potential progress of Sri Lanka’s digital economic system”.
“We unequivocally stand by our place that the On-line Security Invoice, in its present type, is unworkable and would undermine potential progress and overseas direct funding into Sri Lanka’s digital economic system,” the AIC mentioned in a press release.
Turmoil
Wickremesinghe got here to energy in 2022 after months-long protests over financial turmoil and poor governance toppled the earlier prime minister and president.
Since taking the helm, he has been accused of stifling dissent. In 2002, he declared a state of emergency, granting sweeping powers to the army and promising to take a troublesome line towards “bother makers”. A number of protest leaders have been arrested in what critics known as a “witch-hunt”.
The United Nations condemned the president’s “misuse of emergency measures”, saying they impinged “on the legit train of the rights to freedom of peaceable meeting and expression”.
The UN Workplace of the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights additionally criticised a proposed counterterrorism regulation granting sweeping powers to the police and army to conduct searches and arrest folks with “inadequate judicial oversight”.
Elections are anticipated to be held within the autumn.
