Need new laws to regulate social media: Nimal Siripala

Laws should be introduced to regulate social media such as Tiktok that cause massive cultural, social and national disasters, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said today.

He told Parliament that it is high time that immediate attention must be paid to this matter and bring in new laws to regulate social media.

He said he was not advocating for a total ban of social media but a mechanism to regulate them was the need of the hour.

The Minister also said that capital punishment should be imposed on selected crimes such as drug peddling and organised crimes based on the need of the country.

He said death penalty was imposed on drug peddling in Singapore and Malaysia and added that Sri Lanka would not be able to do so if we were to adhere to international standards.

He said drug peddlers who were caught with huge drug haul go scotfree and that such elements should be punished. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)