{"id":235484,"date":"2024-01-25T03:39:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T22:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=235484"},"modified":"2024-01-25T17:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T12:16:42","slug":"online-safety-act-major-blow-to-freedom-of-expression-amnesty-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/online-safety-act-major-blow-to-freedom-of-expression-amnesty-international\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Safety Act Major Blow To Freedom Of Expression: Amnesty International"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Responding to the passing of the draconian Online Safety Act in the Sri Lankan Parliament today, <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Thyagi+Ruwanpathirana\">Thyagi Ruwanpathirana<\/a><\/span>, Regional Researcher for South Asia at <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Amnesty+International\">Amnesty International<\/a><\/span> said: \u201cThe passing of the Online Safety Act is a major blow to human rights in Sri Lanka. The Act is the newest weapon in the government\u2019s arsenal of tools that could be used to undermine freedom of expression and suppress dissent. Authorities must immediately withdraw it and ensure respect for the human rights of everyone in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany parts of the Act do not meet international human rights standards including overbroad provisions that would restrict the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression and privacy online, and vaguely worded, subjective offences such as \u2018prohibited statements\u2019 as determined and declared by a powerful \u2018Online Safety Commission\u2019. The rights to freedom of expression and privacy are guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Sri Lanka is a State party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs people grapple with and voice their concerns amid hardships during Sri Lanka\u2019s economic crisis and the impact of government\u2019s austerity measures, this legislation will be ripe for misuse by authorities and will be used to further restrict civic space, and crackdown on critics and opposition. In a year of elections, with a long history of cracking down on protests, the Sri Lankan authorities must demonstrate the political will to uphold their international human rights obligations and commitments by guaranteeing and ensuring respect for human rights before, during and after elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Background:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On 24 January, the Sri Lankan parliament voted to pass the Online Safety Act. The Online Safety Act provides broad powers to an \u2018Online Safety Commission\u2019 including deciding on what constitutes as \u201cprohibited statements\u201d and making recommendations to internet service providers to remove such content and disabling access for those deemed offenders. The Act also includes a prohibition on \u2018communicating a false statement\u2019 which poses a threat to national security, public health or public order or promotes feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of people or; voluntarily causes disturbance to any assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies.<\/p>\n<p>The Bill has been criticised by many activists, civil society members, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) who said the bill will have \u2018a chilling effect on freedom of expression.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":234384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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