The Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry has raised concerns about the growing difficulty of regulating books and other publications available on digital platforms, noting that existing controls mainly apply to printed material entering the country through ports and airports.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (30), Deputy subject Minister Muneer Mulaffer said that Sri Lanka has, from time to time, introduced mechanisms to review publications, particularly in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks. “For example, after the attacks, a nine-member review committee was appointed to examine Islamic publications before they are brought into the country. Only those that receive the committee’s approval are allowed to be imported,” he said. However, he pointed out that such systems only work when books arrive in physical form through regulated entry points. “The problem is that we can only assess and take decisions on content when these books come through the proper channels. But now, the same material is easily available online as soft copies. A large number of people read through the internet today, so the question is how this can be regulated.” Mulaffer added that there is currently no powerful-enough mechanism to regulate digital publications of this nature, and that even introducing such controls would not be practical. “At the moment, there is no proper system to deal with these digital versions. Even trying to regulate them raises practical challenges,” he said.

The issue has drawn increasing attention in recent years in the wake of debates over publications that certain parties say could affect religious harmony. A recent controversy involving a book by a Jaffna-based author has again brought the matter into focus, leading to calls for clearer guidelines on how such content should be handled.