Media groups vow to block Online Safety Bill amid rising concerns

Leading media groups and trade unions vowed last week to block an Online Safety Bill (OSB) amid rising chaos and concerns over the implications of the proposed law.Addressing a press conference in Colombo last Tuesday, Free Media Movement (FMM) spokesman Ananda Jayasekera said that the key media organizations in Sri Lanka along with some trade unions joined hands under the theme of “Stand against Oppressive Law” to stop the bill being enacted as a law.

“It is harmful for the freedom of expression and it creates a fear psychosis among the citizens and media on what they express online,” Jayasekera said adding that the FMM has filed a petition against the bill.

He said 34 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against the bill citing the proposed legislation is infringing fundamental human rights including freedom of expression.

Duminda Sampath, President of the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association urged the 225 members of current parliament to go through the bill and assess the implications for themselves in the future.

“The high number of petitions shows that citizens understand something better than the 225 parliament members,” Sampath said.

“This bill must be defeated in the parliament. If it is passed, there will be only selective justice given we have witnessed some laws like Emergency Regulations and ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) being applied in this country.”

“This is an act to hide the government’s corruption.”

President of Young Journalists Association of Sri Lanka, Tharindu Jayawardena said: “This bill is urgently brought in. This was not consulted with the stakeholders at all. We don’t need this bill.”

“We don’t know how the minister discussed the bill without any members of the media,” Jayawardena said.

“What the government is trying to do now is to show its hands are clean and they have consulted us. This is a dangerous law and it has to be stopped by any means. We will have to do something in addition to the legal means to stop this.”