• Public Security Min. says Justice Min. working on amending same as Govt. also opposes OSA 

Although the Government also disagrees with the Online Safety Act, No. 9 of 2024 (OSA), Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala claimed that the Private Member Bill introduced by New Democratic Front Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake to repeal the same, was not brought in good faith.

The Online Safety Bill was presented to the Parliament in late 2023 by the then-Public Security Minister Tiran Alles.

As the current Public Security Minister, Wijepala was questioned by The Daily Morning about Karunanayake’s Bill to repeal the OSA,and he said that it was not brought in good faith. 

“They do various things to gain popularity from time to time. He and his party have been in the Parliament for decades, but they have not done anything progressive in the past,” he said.

He also said that the Government was also not in agreement with the OSA, and added that the Ministry of Justice and National Integration (led by Minister Harshana Nanayakkara) had been tasked with making necessary changes to it. “From the very beginning, we said that we did not agree with the OSA, and that we would amend it. The Justice Minister is working on it,” he said.

When queried as to whether the Government would consider supporting the Private Member’s Bill, given that they too are not in agreement with regard to the OSA, Wijepala said: “We haven’t even seen the bill yet. Only once it is presented to the Parliament can we respond to it.”

The OSA, which was passed during the tenure of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe in early last year (2024), was introduced with the aim of tackling online abuse, cyberbullying, and harmful digital content. However, the Act drew criticism for its vague definitions and the potential to restrict freedom of expression. Several parties including the ruling National People’s Power, which was in the Opposition at that time, opposed the bill, claiming that it could be misused to silence dissent and control social media content critical of the Government.