Colombo, Sri Lanka, 13 October 2022
The National Information Technology Conference, organized by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka, was held at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, on 13 October 2022. The session revolved around the theme “Social Media Self Governance.” It saw the participation of a number of professionals and experts from the field, including Mr Sean Lyons, the Chief Online Safety Officer of Netsafe New Zealand.
The Conference centered on issues relating to online bullying and hate speech. Starting off the session, Mr Sean Lyons highlighted the importance of clear legislative frameworks for hate speech, bringing up the example of the 2019 Christchurch Mosque attacks.
As the moderator, Mr Rohan Samarajiva, founding Chair of LIRNEasia, pointed out that such a framework has become an urgent imperative in Sri Lanka, while Mr Nalaka Gunawardena, one of the panelists, observed that no framework is foolproof or fail-safe.
Mrs Mandana Ismail noted that inasmuch as social media has to play a responsible role vis-à-vis disinformation and hate speech, traditional media cannot be excluded. She added that Sri Lanka lacks legislation for new media. This point was echoed by Mrs Sharanya Sekaram, who argued that the problem was the lack of accountability from officials and stakeholders.
The panel wrapped up with a consensus that if Sri Lanka is to move forward, it needs a social media industry code similar to what New Zealand came up with earlier this year.
