News

Sri Lanka to introduce new laws to regulate social media

Published

3 weeks ago

January 7, 2023

editor

President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the government is working to introduce an Act similar to the Telecommunications and Social Media Act currently used in Singapore to regulate social media platforms including YouTube and Facebook.

The President made this observation during a discussion held yesterday (06) with newspaper editors and news directors of electronic media at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.

Responding to a question about the programmes being followed by the government regarding the activities of certain social media activists, the President stated that although there are laws in Sri Lanka for newspapers and electronic media, there is no such legal framework for the regulation of social media in the country.

The President stated that as a result he has brought down the Telecommunications and Social Media Act currently in use in Singapore and hopes to study it and prepare a legal framework suitable for Sri Lanka in the future.

News

Victoria Nuland to visit Sri Lanka next week

Published

1 hour ago

January 28, 2023

editor

The United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland will undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka, next week.

During her visit to Sri Lanka, Under Secretary Nuland will mark the 75th anniversary of U.S.-Sri Lanka relations which coincides with Sri Lanka’s 75th anniversary of Independence.

The American Embassy in Sri Lanka says this in a statement.

Full statement is below.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland Travels to Colombo for Bilateral U.S.-Sri Lanka Talks

United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland arrived in Colombo with an interagency delegation for meetings with the Government of Sri Lanka, as well as business and civil society leaders. Other senior members of the interagency delegation include Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Amanda Dory.

Under Secretary Nuland and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris will co-chair the 4th U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue which will address strengthening democratic institutions, human rights, sustainable economic development, mitigating climate change, deepening trade and investment ties, regional security, and educational cooperation.

Under Secretary Nuland, Ambassador Chung, and the U.S. delegation will meet with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to discuss the challenges posed by the global pandemic and ways to strengthen the U.S.-Sri Lankan partnership.

Under Secretary Nuland and the U.S. delegation will also meet with representatives of civil society and the

News

Public urged to inform of unauthorized power outages

Published

12 hours ago

January 27, 2023

editor

General Public and electricity consumers requested to inform the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) in writing of any unauthorized power outages imposed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

News

Speaker endorses certificate on 2 Bills

Published

12 hours ago

January 27, 2023

editor

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena endorsed the certificate recently (24) on the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill and the Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill which were debated and passed in Parliament recently.

Accordingly, these bills come into force as the Bureau of Rehabilitation Act No. 2 of 2023 and the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act No. 3 of 2023.