U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka – Julie Chung has said that while it is important for the government of Sri Lanka to carry out reforms, it is ‘also important to explain those reforms to the people in a clear manner.’

She has further elaborated the matter taking the recently passed Online Safety Bill (OSB) as an example. 

“The Centre for Policy Alternatives reported from a poll earlier this month that more than 70 percent of Sri Lankans were unaware of the bill before its passage.  When major global tech companies characterize the bill as “unworkable” and stifling innovation and democracy, instead of actually addressing online crimes, frankly this sends a negative signal in Sri Lanka’s path towards reform and recovery.  Previous bills, such as the Personal Data Protection Act, took much longer to craft, but did a better job of taking stakeholder feedback into account.  To work on legislation and reforms that will be durable, enforceable, and wise, the Sri Lankan government will need to do better in the future.  This will be key to improving the business climate,” she said.

The ambassador was speaking at the Amcham XO Forum “75 years and Beyond: U.S. – Sri Lankan Business Relations in 2024”.