The Cabinet of Ministers is currently in a discussion on bringing in new laws to control the dissemination of disinformation via the social media platforms in Sri Lanka, Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC said.
He said it is currently taking into the consideration the laws such as the Prevention of Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act that is effective in Singapore, India and Malaysia.
According to him, out of the entire social media profiles in Sri Lanka, 15 to17 per cent is fake. Therefore, it is impossible to prosecute them if they disseminated something baseless.
“Such moves could have direct impacts on the freedom of expression in the future. Freedom of Expression should be secondary to national security, reconciliation, dignity of the country, privacy, defamation and economic factors”, he stressed.