Popular website ‘ Gossip Lanka ‘ (gossip lankanews .com) has been blocked, stated the Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Anusha Palpita.
He stated that it was blocked by the
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission under a written order of the
Ministry of Mass Media & Information.
However,
the administrators of the website yesterday stated that the Sri Lanka
viewers cannot access ‘ Gossip Lanka’ due to a technical error.
The administrators further stated that those who wish to view the website can gain access through proxy.
He
stated that there are no legal provisions in the prevailing
constitution to regulate the activities of internet media including
websites, blogs, facebook and twitter. Similarly, Telecommunications
Regulatory Commission possess no authority to block websites, he said.
Telecommunications
Regulatory Act was implemented to regulate the activities of Television
channels and Radio channels and when the act was implemented the
internet was not at such an advanced level.
The
Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission or the
Secretary of the Ministry of Mass Media and Information do not possess
authority to regulate internet and being involved in such activities is
illegal, he added.
However, Free
Media Movement have submitted a petition in Supreme Court regarding the
ban on 5 other news websites. Even though the petition was rejected the
court was unable provide a clear explanation on the grounds which it was
rejected.
Therefore, there is no code of ethics passed by the parliament to regulate new media, Jayasekara stated.
Under
this situation government is misusing government authorities to gain
control or regulate the websites which criticize the government and the
government has already banned several websits which expressed
discontentment towards it.
Following
the regulations implemented by the Ministry of Mass Media and
Information ‘Gossip Lanka’ has been registered under the Ministry as a
news website after paying an amount of Rs. 25,000. Therefore blocking
the website without any prior notification is an extension of
government’s media suppression, he noted.
Few months ago goverment blocked gossip9.com as well.
related : Gossip9 No more ?
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