Supreme Court receives 45 petitions against Online Safety Bill

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed the Sri Lanka Parliament this morning (October 18) that the Supreme Court has received 45 petitions against the Online Safety Bill.

The Online Safety Bill was presented before the Parliament of Sri Lanka by Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles on October 03, 2023.

Fundamental rights violation applications have been filed under the provisions of the Article 121 (1) of the Constitution.

The Online Safety Bill, published in the government gazette on September 18, 2023 with the aim of ban online communication of certain statements in the country, prevent the use of online accounts for the use of prohibited purposes, to suppress the false statements and other related matters.

However, the Online Safety Bill has come under fire for some of its problematic aspects, with the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) which consists of multiple tech giants including Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon and Yahoo, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) voicing concerns.