In an era marked by the rapid growth of the digital economy, the issue of taxation on technology multinationals has taken centre stage. However, many countries in the Global South find themselves unequipped to harness tax revenue from these digital giants. Several policy options are available to countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN) have proposed treaty-based solutions, but questions have emerged about the revenue potential of these multilateral proposals, the feasibility of their timely implementation, as well as whose interests they serve. Meanwhile, several countries — including some in the Global South — have implemented their own domestic solutions. 
In an era marked by the rapid growth of the digital economy, the issue of taxation on technology multinationals has taken centre stage. However, many countries in the Global South find themselves unequipped to harness tax revenue from these digital giants. Several policy options are available to countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN) have proposed treaty-based solutions, but questions have emerged about the revenue potential of these multilateral proposals, the feasibility of their timely implementation, as well as whose interests they serve. Meanwhile, several countries — including some in the Global South — have implemented their own domestic solutions. 
Now that the fate of the “online safety” bill is in the hands of the many petitioners (45) and the three-judge bench that is looking at its constitutionality, we can look at the big picture of what the government is trying to do with this draconian legislation. It appears that even the committee that was formed in 2021 to advise on it has distanced itself from the final text. LIRNEasia Chair, Rohan Samarajiva gave a talk on this at the CMR-Nepal Journalism Academy in Kathmandu on 19 October 2023. The slides can be viewed below. 
In the ever-evolving landscape of data-driven progress, the promise of harnessing private sector data to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial. However, it has become evident that the road to effective public-private data partnerships in the Global South is laden with challenges. LIRNEasia together with CEPEI recently held a roundtable discussion at the 18th International Governance Forum (IGF) in Kyoto, Japan, on October 9, 2023 with the participation of a diverse panel of stakeholders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, who discussed many areas, including the private sector’s role in the data revolution, policy and practical challenges, and methods to overcome them. The session was moderated by LIRNEasia CEO, Helani Galpaya. The panelists included: 1. 
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.
Is the extraordinary imprecision of drafting found in this act and the obvious mismatch between the proposed solutions and the real problems of online harms simply a result of incompetence, or is the intention that of getting everyone (content creators, sharers, platforms) to engage in excessively strict self-censorship because no one will be able to clearly define what is permitted and what is not.
Get ready to be immersed in the forefront of digital discourse as the 18th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 unfolds in Kyoto, Japan from 8 to 12 October, under the theme The Internet We Want – Empowering All People. LIRNEasia will host two sessions featuring experts from the Global South, along with LIRNEasia CEO, Helani Galpaya, Senior Research Manager, Gayani Hurulle, and Senior Researcher, Isuru Samaratunga. Helani will participate at two additional sessions. Here’s a sneak peek at the sessions; scroll down to find out how to register to attend in person or online. 1: Public-Private Data Partnerships in the Global South (Session #308) Zoom registration link (IGF 2023 Room 3) Session page This round table discussion will explore how the private sector is contributing to the data revolution toward achieving the SDGs, and the key policy and practice challenges faced by stakeholders in attempting to build data partnerships in this regard. 
On 2nd October 2023, Research Manager and Team Lead (Data, Algorithms, and Policy) Merl Chandana, alongside Junior Researcher Chanuka Algama, held a session titled ‘Applied data science research for social good’ at the University of Kelaniya’s Department of Statistics and Computer Science. The session delved into LIRNEasia’s journey of forming a data science team and using large datasets to yield critical insights for public policy. They contrasted LIRNEasia’s applied data science approach with traditional academic research and private sector practices. Additionally, they highlighted the emerging ‘AI for Social Good’ movement and its potential as a career avenue. The slides used can be accessed below. 
A new Draft Bill on Online Safety was recently published in the Gazette of 15th September (issued on 19th September). As stated, the objectives of the Bill are to ‘to establish an online Safety Commission; to make provisions to prohibit online communication of certain statements of fact in Sri Lanka; prevent the use of online accounts and inauthentic online accounts for prohibited purposes; make provisions to identify and declare online locations used for prohibited purposes in Sri Lanka; and to suppress the financing and other support of communication of false statements of fact.’ Many provisions of the new Bill appear to be modelled on Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). However, there are significant differences. In the following sections we highlight some of the differences, based on an initial reading of the two documents. 
"Safeguarding freedom of speech and expression is so important that it is constitutionally protected in most civilised countries, as it is in Sri Lanka. Legislators seeking to address the new problems posed by rapid and articulated dissemination of user generated content must first decide what the priority is. If it is rapid takedown (to avoid situations such as the live-streaming of the Christchurch massacre), the solution is not what is proposed in this bill. By the time the “Online Truth Commission,” likely to be ill-resourced like most regulatory bodies, issues its orders the damage will be done." 
LIRNEasia together with the South Centre hosted an expert forum on Policy Options for Digital Taxation in South and Southeast Asia on 19 September 2023. The event was a closed-door event, attended by over 110 tax officials, with participants registered from Global South 40 countries. The event, based on research conducted jointly by LIRNEasia and the South Centre, looked to provide a forum for the organizers and participants to share their experiences and weigh relative merits of different policy options for providing new taxing rights to capture revenues of large technology multinationals in local tax nets. The policy options included (i) domestic measures such as digital services taxes and withholding taxes (ii) OECD/G20’s Amount A Multilateral Convention and (iii) Article 12B of the UN Model Tax Convention.LA SC Digital Tax Forum_Panel 2_Implementation considerations.
On May 23rd 2019, the Government of Sri Lanka posted the Draft Cyber Security Bill on the SL CERT website and invited public comments/input. LIRNEasia submitted comments in response to the SL CERT’s request. Our written comments submitted on 5th June 2019 are available through the link below Comments on the Cyber Security Bill – Sri Lanka 2019 Subsequently in August 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka posted an updated version of the Cyber Security Bill and invited public comments. LIRNEasia once again submitted written comments on 18th August 2023, which can be accessed here. Comments on the Cyber Security Bill – Sri Lanka 2023 The report below analyses the extent to which the input submitted by LIRNEasia in 2019 has been taken into account in the updated (August 2023) version of the proposed Bill
LIRNEasia Chair, Rohan Samarajiva and Senior Research Fellow, Sujata Gamage recently published an article in the Journal of Information Policy entitled Forming Policy Intellectuals in the Asia Pacific and Africa: Communication Policy Research South, 2006–2018. Read the full article here. 
LIRNEasia submitted a response to the Ministry of Technology’s invitation to comment on the Cyber Security Bill uploaded to the website of Sri Lanka CERT in August 2023 (www.cert.gov.lk). The submission addresses specific concerns related to the requirement for accreditation of Cyber Security service providers, the composition of the Cyber Security Regulatory Authority and the definition of the term Critical National Information Infrastructure.
LIRNEasia is currently looking to fill the role of a Junior Researcher. The full job description is available here. The deadline for applying is 31st August 2023.
We are inviting proposals from potential bidders to conduct a qualitative study on Information Disorder in Sri Lanka.
We are inviting proposals from potential Bidders to conduct a Longitudinal study on the drivers of household electricity consumption in Sri Lanka. The full RFP can be downloaded here. Please also see our Technical Proposal Template, Financial Proposal Template, and Contract Template before submitting the proposals. Deadline for submissions is 24th July 2023