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Sri Lanka told to hold Facebook’s feet to the fire
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Mangala Samaraweera presenting a memento to former Southern Province Chief Minister H.G. Sirisena who had worked closely with him. Pic by Romesh Danushka
Former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Samantha Power, urged the Sri Lanka Government to insist that Facebook crack down on hate speech.
She made the remarks in her keynote address at a commemoration held at the BMICH on Thursday, to mark Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s 30 years in Parliamentary politics.
Pointing out that hate speech and conspiracy theories about Muslims disseminated on social media led to violence and destruction in the country last year, Ms Power stressed that Sri Lanka has an essential role to play.
“You are going to have to insist that Facebook uphold its “Community Standards” for all of Sri Lanka’s national languages, or face serious repercussions,” she said.
“It is simply not acceptable that Facebook has not invested more in equipping itself to monitor posts in languages like Tamil, or Sinhala.”
She insisted that a platform with this much influence and reach cannot get by just doing the bare minimum.
“Facebook needs to be far more transparent, so that experts and civil society can guide the company in how to do better in the context of the unique challenges Sri Lanka faces,” Ms Power emphasised.
She pointed out that Mr Samaraweera was one of the first political leaders of Sri Lanka to take to Twitter during the crisis to condemn the viciousness, sending a message of zero tolerance for politicians and others who incited racial violence.
At the commemoration, among those present were, President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Sirisena reminisced that he and Mr Samaraweera were both elected to Parliament from the opposition together and took oaths as MPs in 1989. He praised Mr Samaraweera as a good-hearted individual who was committed to democracy and reconciliation. “We all honour him for that,” Mr Sirisena said, wishing the minister the very best for his future.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, said Mangala Samaraweera had a dream to take Sri Lanka to great heights. “This dream has been alive in our country for generations,” he observed, noting that the challenge of achieving this dream remains. Nevertheless, he said everyone could be happy that democracy had been established.
“Sincerity and honesty have proved to be the bedrock of our friendship,” former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said, recalling that Mr Samaraweera was the youngest minister in her Cabinet and that he had remained a sincere friend over many years. She praised him for the way he revitalised the country’s telecommunications industry through privatisation and for spearheading the “Sudu Nelum” movement during the war.
In his remarks, Mr Samaraweera noted that everyone, politicians and non politicians alike, has a responsibility to make the country a better place and to keep working with determination to “ensure the realisation of our dreams for our nation — a peaceful, stable, reconciled and prosperous Sri Lanka for all, where the dignity of each and every individual is upheld’’.