SL Mass Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella,
Sri Lanka’s Mass Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, says the government plans to register local users of all social media platforms, insisting that social media needs to be regulated to curb inappropriate digital content the country.
“We tried self-regulation. There is a discussion on the matter tomorrow. I feel the time has come to act rather than discuss,” stated Rambukwella.
In an interview with the Daily News, Rambukwella stated, “we need to register social media pages and sites that provide information to the public… We need to document it all. In Sri Lanka’s National media policy, freedom of expression is given prominence. Our Government has never attacked that right. But we must be vigilant about the limits of that freedom.”
As reported by DataReportal, there were 6.40 million social media users in Sri Lanka in January of 2020, highlighting the large impact this proposed registration of social media accounts would have.
After Rambukwella’s comments gained popularity, Sajith Premadasa, the leader of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), spoke out against the proposed laws, maintaining the need to tolerate those who criticise you over social media". Premadasa made these comments regardless of his pledge to help President and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, bring about a “disciplined society.”
Following backlash, Rambukwella then backtracked his statement, saying that the media portrayed his intentions in a “garbled manner.” He also took to Twitter stating, "The government’s intention is not to register #social media users, but to control the foreign digital operators."
In June, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed alarm at the clampdown on freedom of expression in Sri Lanka during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka also wrote a letter in April to the police informing them that an arrest for the mere criticism of public officials or policies would be unconstitutional after several individuals were arrested over posts on their Facebook pages.
Furthermore, hundreds of Tamils and non-Tamil allies recently took to Instagram in the #RememberResist campaign to mark Maaveerar Naal, taking a stance against online censorship of Tamil remembrance.
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