The Internet Media Action (IMA) has expressed concern and objection over the statement made by Deputy Minister for Public Security Sunil Watagala calling for action under emergency regulations against those slandering the President on social media.
Issuing a statement, the organization said that the Deputy Minister had issued the directive during a discussion held on December 2 at the Malabe Divisional Secretariat with the participation of a group of public officers and Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne.
According to the statement, the Deputy Minister stated that through Social Media or any other media, ‘malicious character assassination attacks’ are being launched targeting the President and a few others in the political authority. He further stated that it is not possible to carry out ‘false opinions – misrepresentations’ physically, online, or through AI technology.
The organization further claimed that the Minister also stated that those who do so should be subjected to severe punishment under the currently imposed Emergency law, treating them not as suspects but as accused.
Our position is that this statement constitutes a serious threat to the freedom of expression (FOE), a fundamental right of the citizens of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, any attempt to use the Emergency law, which is said to have been imposed for disaster management, to suppress political criticism is an abuse of power and constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights of the citizen. This is a highly dangerous attempt to deliberately suppress freedom of expression(FOE) and to restrict fundamental rights. Criticism is not a crime, and attempting to punish criticism out of fear is the most serious harm that can be done to democracy, it said.
“We, as Internet Media Action (IMA), are deeply concerned about the intimidation and self-censorship that may be caused to social media activists-citizens by this. Therefore, we state that the statement made by Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala must be unequivocally withdrawn, and that freedom of expression(FOE) is a fundamental human right that cannot be restricted or suppressed by Emergency law or any other legal provisions, and the Government must clearly state its position on this matter,” the organization added. (Newswire)