Online Safety Act Amended – TimesOnline

Online security bill amended

The bill to amend the Online Safety Act was presented to Parliament on Thursday by House of Representatives Leader Susil Premajayantha.

Amendments are being tabled to the bill, which was passed by parliament in January after stakeholders raised concerns about parts of the original law.

The bill extends the application of the law to statements that aim to intimidate the targeted person by publishing private messages from that person and publishing online photos, audio or videos of an offensive or pornographic nature without the express consent of the person concerned.

The bill empowers the Commission to draw up a code of conduct in the form of rules to tackle harmful online content and conduct, including hate speech, incitement to violence, misinformation, disinformation, cyberbullying and harassment, and online sexual exploitation and abuse.

Once the bill has been adopted, Internet service providers and Internet intermediaries will have three months to voluntarily draw up a code of conduct or to inform the Commission that they wish to draw up a code of conduct jointly with the Commission.

If they do not do so within the deadline, the Commission will take steps to draw up such a code of conduct, publish a draft in electronic form and, within three months, request comments, observations and recommendations from the ISPs and intermediaries and take steps to reach agreement and consensus with them.

The Commission will also take measures to hold public consultations for a period of three months before the publication of the draft Code of Conduct and submit it to Parliament for approval.