The committee to recommend amendments to the controversial Online Safety Act (OSA) is still being finalised, The Sunday Morning learns.
On 28 May, the Cabinet announced that approval had been granted to appoint a committee to recommend revisions for the OSA. However, an official at the Justice Ministry told The Sunday Morning that the said committee was still being finalised.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said that the committee was expected to present its recommendations within three months of being formed. It is to include officials from the Attorney General’s Department, Justice Ministry, Media Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and Public Security Ministry.
Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne directed The Sunday Morning to the Justice Ministry for the current status of the committee. Attempts to contact Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara and Ministry Secretary Ayesha Jinasena about the status of the committee’s work proved futile.
A contentious legacy
The OSA has continuously been under the scrutiny of human rights activists and other stakeholders concerned about its effects on constitutional freedoms. The issue was brought up during United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s recent visit to Sri Lanka as well.
Concluding the visit on 26 June, Türk said the OSA “needs to be repealed”. Despite the National People’s Power’s (NPP) severe criticism of the act when it was in the Opposition, the NPP Government has only spoken of an amendment process.
When the legislation was passed in Parliament in January 2024 by the Ranil Wickremesinghe-led administration, current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (then an Opposition MP) said the main objective of the act was to restrict the flow of information shared through social media.
At the time, current Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya called the law “highly flawed”.
The act requires an Online Safety Commission for its full implementation. However, despite a commission not being appointed yet, the act has been used numerous times in the past one-and-a-half years.
The first arrest under the act happened in February 2024 on charges of online defamation, incitement, and misinformation against the Government. Other cases filed under the act include defamation lawsuits by online money lenders and a harassment case filed by former Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake.
In the first four months of this year alone, three high-profile stakeholders sought relief under the OSA. In January, a private media station sought legal action against an online media channel for allegedly spreading defamatory content about it.
In April, following a large-scale data breach that exposed sensitive customer and business operational information, a private bank filed a petition under the OSA. The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court issued a temporary order on 8 April directing the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) to block access to websites or social media accounts distributing or publishing illegally obtained data from the bank.
In the same month, the Colombo Additional Magistrate issued a conditional order preventing the dissemination of false and defamatory statements about Maj. Gen. Asoka Thoradeniya. The order was issued against Rahubadda Kankanamge Indrananda de Silva under Section 24 of the OSA following a complaint by Maj. Gen. Thoradeniya.
Inclusive public consultation needed
Legal consultant and research fellow on technology, media, and telecommunications law Ashwini Natesan observed that the OSA was being used although the commission had yet to be appointed.
“It has been used for varied purposes, including a smear campaign against the Government last year. It is quite early, but there have been some cases of defamation and false information. It has not been used very frequently, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t amend the act,” Natesan told The Sunday Morning.
Natesan is also a member of the Community of Practice (COP) on Monitoring and Countering Hate Speech and Disinformation in Sri Lanka (facilitated by the United Nations). The COP includes many civil society organisations that as a collective hope to engage with the proposed reform process of the OSA.
She recommended amendments in two key areas: revisiting some of the definitions in the act like that of ‘false statement’ and rethinking the offences.
“The definitions are very wide, so they are very subjective and open to interpretation. There are also many offences under the act and some of these are already covered within existing legislation. They may not specifically state that they cover those in the online space, but they can still be used,” said Natesan.
When the previous administration hurried the act through the lawmaking process, amidst outcry about its potentially chilling effects on freedom of expression, it said that the aim was to protect women and children.
“I agree that especially in the online space, women, children, and other minorities are subject to harassment. However, there is only one provision that specifically looks at child abuse and women in the act,” said Natesan.
She stressed the need to have widespread and inclusive public consultation to amend the act.
“The responses received in a public consultation have to be also made public; this would be helpful in transparency and also enable us in seeing the Government’s reasoning in accepting or rejecting comments from the public. The OSA impacts all citizens, so an inclusive consultation process will go a long way in how the act is framed,” she said.