The government is planning to take up the Online Safety Bill on January 23 despite the insistence of civil society organizations to have a three-month consultative process, Daily Mirror learns.
The bill which was presented in Parliament was challenged in the Supreme Court which proposed amendments in its determination. The Supreme Court stressed the need for the enactment of such a bill for online safety.
In the meantime, the civil society movements sought a three-month consultative process to seek the views of the industry stakeholders to be incorporated in the bill.
A team of civil society representatives also went to Singapore to consult the stakeholders.
The bill is widely modeled on Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).
Prof. Ashu Marasinghe, the presidential advisor on parliamentary affairs, confirmed that the bill would be taken up for debate and enacted during the parliamentary week starting on January 23.
Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said that the ministry awaits inputs from the industry stakeholders such as Google and Facebook to incorporated in the final enactment of the bill.
-daily mirror
