New act on websites: Charitha Herath

Following the announcement by the government that a Code of Ethics will be introduced for the print and electronic media, the Media Ministry now says it hopes to introduce new laws for websites.

Media Ministry Secretary Charitha Herath went on to say that a committee is to be formed to draft the new laws for websites operating in Sri Lanka. Herath said that so far just 67 websites have been registered with the Media Ministry but yet there are no laws to take action against them or unregistered websites if they publish false and damaging content. Herath said that under the new laws for websites the authorities will look at how to deal with unregistered websites as well. �More than a policy a law is required for websites because there is an increase in the harm being created by some websites on society. Even if we ban local websites we cannot ban websites operating from overseas,� Herath added.