• House votes to debate despite Opposition concerns
• Alles defends Bill citing online misconduct prevention, Eran queries Govt. haste & ambiguity of ‘prohibited statements’ 
• Sumanthiran PC wants SOC report, Kanaka Herath claims 20,000 cyber misconduct complaints to SLCERT, GL slams impact on media    

The much debated Online Safety Bill (OSB) was taken up for debate in Parliament yesterday (23) in the midst of much criticism from both domestic and international communities over its content.

After the Bill was moved by the Leader of the House, attorney Dr. Susil Premajayantha, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa – joined by several Opposition Parliamentarians – opposed the Bill being taken up for debate, claiming that the Parliament Standing Orders (SOs) have been violated by the Government by moving this Bill. 

Premadasa said that the report on the OSB which is supposed to be submitted by the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Media, Youth, Heritage, and the New Citizen, had not been tabled. He, therefore, urged Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, not to take the Bill up for debate. He also said that there is not enough time to study the Bill, and noted that the proposals of the expert committee appointed by Public Security Minister Tiran Alles have not been included. He said that the presented Bill cannot be accepted, and that therefore, the debate must be postponed.

However, following a party leaders' meeting, it was decided to take a motion on whether the House was agreeable to take up the second reading debate on the OSB, and it was passed with a majority of 33 votes. A vote was taken following a division called by the Opposition on taking up the Bill for debate. A total of 83 MPs voted in favour, while 50 MPs voted against.

Starting the debate on the Bill, Minister Alles said that the main objective of bringing such legislation is to prevent misconduct in the digital sphere, and  not to intimidate or control the public who use these services, as is claimed by various parties. Alles noted that a vast scope of digital misconduct, such as fraudulent exchanges, the harassing of children and females, and sharing misinformation – the latter which could lead to social uprisings and ethnic conflicts and be a threat to the country’s national security – will be addressed by the proposed OSB. He also said that suggestions and recommendations submitted by domestic and international stakeholders, including the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), have been accepted by the Government. 

In response to a question raised by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Opposition MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as to whether the Internet intermediaries have approved the Bill, the Minister said that the Government has had extensive discussions with them, and that even a team led by himself had gone to Singapore for the discussion. 

“I tried my best to accommodate all their suggestions as much as possible, but, I should make it clear that all their suggestions are not included. When it comes to the proposals of the committee appointed by myself, as per the Attorney General, those amendments cannot be included in the Bill at this stage, but, I will submit all those suggestions to the Cabinet of Ministers in the future, and those will also be included in this Bill,” he said.

Speaking during the debate, SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne said that even though they admit that a proper regulation is much needed for a healthy digital sphere, the mechanism of bringing this Bill and the purpose behind it cannot be approved. He said that the Government’s urgency in bringing this Bill forward without having reached a proper consensus among the stakeholders is not appropriate. 

“As a House, we have passed legislation collectively. The Right to Information Act and the Anti-Corruption Act were brought in with the support of the entire Parliament. So, why cannot we come to a decision in this regard? What is the hurry?,” he queried. 

He also said that this kind of law will have a negative impact on the country’s economy in a context where the whole world is moving to a digital economic system. He further stressed that some clauses, including the definition given to the “prohibited statements”, are not clear.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Opposition MP, President’s Counsel, M.A. Sumanthiran, who joined Premadasa and other Opposition MPs including Prof. G.L. Peiris and Wimal Weerawansa, in their opposition to the Bill, said that the Parliament cannot take this Bill into the debate as the much-needed report of the relevant SOC on the Bill has not been tabled to the Parliament. He said that according to the SOs of the Parliament, every Bill should be referred to the relevant SOC, and that the report of that Committee regarding the Bill should be tabled before the Parliament for the MPs' reference. 

“Instead of the report, a paper has been tabled. We cannot accept this. Therefore, this debate is illegal,” he said. He further stated that when there can be a process by which the entire Parliament can agree to pass a law that is complete, the Government has chosen a wrongful path as always. “The Minister of Public Security, giving that assurance itself is confirming that this is a defective Bill that is dividing the House. I am not going into the merits of the Bill. But, we know what the Supreme Court determination was. There are only 56 clauses in the Bill and out of those, 34 were supposed to be amended,” he added.

Speaking during the debate, the State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath said that the establishment of a permanent institution with power is a need of the hour in a context where more than 20,000 complaints regarding cyber misconduct have been lodged only with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) over the past year (2023). Therefore, he said that this kind of law must be there to address these issues and to protect children and females who experience such incidents frequently.

Meanwhile, Prof. Peiris said that the proposed Bill is being brought up with the idea of controlling the media on the eve of the upcoming elections since the free media has been a headache for the Government in carrying on their oppressive agenda.