Sri Lanka warns it may regulate social media after school video incident

The Sri Lankan government is moving toward stronger online regulation after videos involving a leading Colombo school spread on social media, raising serious concerns about privacy and identity protection.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said yesterday (January 27) that the government’s attention has been drawn to the incident and that the Education Ministry has already started an investigation. He warned that if media and social media platforms do not voluntarily regulate themselves, the government will introduce its own regulatory process.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing, the Minister said situations like this show the urgent need for the Online Safety Act. He added that the incident reflects a serious decline in social values and stressed the importance of protecting individuals’ identities and privacy.

“The Online Safety Act is in its final stage and will be enacted soon after the public consultation process,” he said, adding that it is meaningless to act only after tragic outcomes such as suicide occur.

He emphasized that the law is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone and confirmed that the government will take action to prevent similar incidents in the future.