A new Bill on Online Safety was recently published in the Gazzette and has now been presented to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The Bill has drawn widespread commentary and criticism; the analysis done by LIRNEasia on the Bill can be found here. One issue the Bill attempts to address is the takedown of ‘harmful’ content. Online platforms enable the very rapid dissemination of user generated content (UGC), including potentially harmful content. Laws such as the Online Safety Bill attempt to address this through administrative actions or court orders. However, given that very quick action should be taken to stop dissemination of such content, it’s debatable whether this is the best method to address this. This expert round table discussion (Sinhala) under the theme of “Frontiers of Digital Economy” discusses how regulation and takedown of harmful content can be achieved, focusing on the role played by platform providers.
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