Summary: Sri Lanka's Constitution recognizes freedom of expression, but not a right of privacy.  In 2018, the government declared a state of emergency due to an outbreak of violence against Muslims and temporarily blocked Facebook and some other sites.  Sri Lanka does not have personal data protection, ISP safe harbors, or net neutrality. 

Internet freedoms:

(1) Free speech  

Article 14 of Sri Lanka's Constitution recognizes the freedom of expression: “Every citizen is entitled to (a.) the freedom of speech and expression including publication." [English text].

According to the 2017 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, the government imposed a state of emergency for two weeks following an outbreak of violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka.  During this time, the government blocked Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Viber, and also arrested people reportedly for some of their social media posts [source: Freedom House].  The 2017 U.S. State Department Report indicates that some journalists self-censor their articles to avoid reprisal from the government and president.

(2) Privacy​

Sri Lanka's Constitution does not expressly recognize a right of privacy.

According to the 2017 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, the government can monitor communications under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without judicial order.  According to Freedom House, accessing public Wifi requires entry of one's national identity card number, and there were concerns about President's Sirisena's statement posted on Facebook that the government was taking steps to “implement[] necessary monitoring and surveillance methods to ensuring public safety.”  Sri Lanka does not have a personal data protection law [source: South Asia Program at Hudson Institute].

(3) Access 

Sri Lanka does not guarantee a right of Internet access. According to 2016 ITU figures, Sri Lanka had an 32.05% Internet penetration with 6,665,916 users. 

ISP safe harbors: 

Sri Lanka does not have ISP safe harbors [source: The IP Exporter].

Net neutrality:  

Sri Lanka does not have legal protection for net neutrality.  In Nov. 2017, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe supported net neutrality at the inauguration of the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS) [source: Times of India].