Sri Lanka to amend the controversial Press Council Law to include electronic and new media

05/01/2021

 Sri Lanka Cabinet of Ministers has decided to amend the controversial Press Council law to include electronic and new media.

The law was enacted in 1973 after the government led by Sirima Bandaranaike tool over the two leading private print media institutions.

The cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to “structurally reform and reorganise” the Press Council to cover electronic and new media.

In the last week of November, Media Minister made a statement that “a mechanism for the regulation of websites is to be implemented within the next two weeks”. A weeks days later he made another statement that the “government has been considering registering foreign digital operators and not social media and digital platform users.”

The relevant cabinet decision fellows: