• AIC warns of impact to SL’s digital economy 

The Ministry of Technology said that no international social media company had informed the Government thus far that they were to terminate their communication and collaborative links with Sri Lanka if the proposed Online Safety Bill (OSB) was passed.

The statement from the government comes as the concerns continue mount about the controversial OSB, with some being of the view that if the bill is passed in Parliament, social media companies were likely to terminate their communication and collaborative links with Sri Lankan State institutions with effect from today (24).

Further, the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) yesterday issued a press release started that despite constructive collaboration with the government,the AIC has not been privy to proposed amendments to the bill.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (23), State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath said that no such message had been received by the Government from any international company that currently collaborates with the State and non-state sectors in the country. He said that even though the said Bill was proposed by the Ministry of Public Security, those international companies were mostly dealing with the Technology Ministry. Therefore, he said that the Technology Ministry would have been notified first if any such decision had been taken by those companies. 

Herath also said that he could not predict what their responses to this Bill would be but that he could assure that such termination of services would not happen in the future. He also urged the public not to panic on account of such misinformation.

Once the proposed OSB is enacted, the country would have its own legal mechanism to deal with social media-related issues. Hence, there would be no requirement for being linked with State entities like the Computer Emergency Readiness Team for the purpose of regulating respective activities, and as a result, Meta (the owner of Facebook), YouTube, Google, X, and other members of the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) would stop their current special communication and collaborative channels with Lankan State institutions, it was alleged by the said companies. 

Meanwhile, the AIC – the Singapore-based gathering of tech companies – has repeatedly requested the Government to revise the proposed controversial piece of legislation in consultation with stakeholders, but the House is supposed to consider the same Bill that was challenged through an unprecedented 52 cases in the Supreme Court.

The Government commenced the controversial OSB’s second reading committee-stage debate yesterday, and it is expected to be passed today.