This afternoon (03 October), a petition against the Online Safety Bill was submitted to the Supreme Court.
According to the pertinent petition, which was submitted by social activist and independent journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara, certain of the relevant Bill’s provisions are in violation of Sri Lankan constitutional law.
The Online Safety Bill’s provisions, according to the petitioner, breached a number of fundamental human rights, including the freedom of speech and expression.
Uduwaragedara subsequently petitioned the court to rule that the Bill could only be passed with a two-thirds majority in parliament and a referendum.
Despite criticism for some of its problematic elements, Minister of Security Tiran Alles introduced the hotly disputed Online Safety Bill in parliament this morning.
The Bill, which was released on September 18 in the government gazette, aims to stifle the financing and other support of the communication of false statements as well as other issues related to it. It also aims to prevent the use of both legitimate and fraudulent online accounts for the use of prohibited purposes, identify and declare online locations used for such purposes, and prohibit the online communication of certain statements within the nation.
