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BASL calls on TRCSL to withdraw social media ban

03 Apr 2022

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has called upon the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) to forthwith withdraw the ban on social media imposed purportedly on the advice of the Ministry of Defence. In a statement, the BASL said that social media is a vital aspect of the freedom of expression of the people- as important as the traditional media such as radio, television, and the print media. “The ban on social media is the modern-day equivalent of closing down a television channel or a newspaper. This ban has clearly been imposed to thwart the fundamental right of the people of Sri Lanka, the freedom of expression including speech and publication which is unacceptable,” it mentions. It also drew attention to the ban having an effect on stifling the thought process of the people which is protected under Article 10 of the Constitution which guarantees to the people the freedom of thought, conscience and religion which is not restricted by any provision of the Constitution. The BASL also stated that it has observed that even members of the Cabinet of Ministers have expressed their views against the ban. In conclusion, the Association referred to the recent case of U. N. S. P. Kurukulasuriya, Convenor, Free Media Movement, and J. K. W. Jayasekara, V Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation SCFR 556/2008 and 557/2008 decided on 17.02.2021, the Supreme Court quoted with approval the following passages found in several decisions of Sri Lankan courts: “The right to support or to criticise governments and political parties, policies and programmes is fundamental to the democratic way of life; ...and democracy requires not merely that dissent be tolerated, but that it be encouraged” “Criticism of the Government, and of political parties and policies, is per se, a permissible exercise of the freedom of speech and expression under Article14 (1) (a).” In the same case His Lordship Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare observed as follows: “The danger of suppressing dissent was emphasized in Gunawardena v. Pathirana, OIC, Police Station, Elpitiya (1997) 1 Sri LR 265 stating that dissent, or disagreement manifested by conduct or action, is a cornerstone of the Constitution, which should not only be tolerated but encouraged by the Executive as obligated expressly by Article 4(d), Justice Mark Fernando cited the dictum of Justice Jackson in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barbette (1943) 319 US 624, 641; “Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard. It seems trite but necessary to say that the First Amendment was designed to avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.”

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