Decision on Online Safety Bill debate put to vote in Parliament

The Second Reading of the Online Safety Bill was taken up for debate in Parliament today (23), with 83 Members of Parliament voting in favor and 50 against a motion to debate the Bill.

As a result, the Second Reading Debate of the proposed Online Safety Bill commenced in Parliament a short while ago.

The parliamentary session was postponed for 10 minutes to convene a party leaders' meeting for discussions on the proposed Online Safety Bill, on the request of all Opposition Parliamentarians.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana suspended sittings Parliament for 10 minutes after Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa requested for a meeting of Party Leaders prior to the Online Safety Bill being debated.

Opposition parties met Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena before the commencement of today's sittings too to urge him to postpone the debate. However, the government was not agreeable to such a postponement and insisted that the two-day debate continued as earlier agreed. 

Once sittings recommenced after the party leaders' meeting, a motion on whether the House is agreeable to take up the Second Reading of the debate on the Online Safety Bill was taken up for a vote. 

The motion was accordingly passed a majority of 33 votes, with 83 MPs voting in favour and 50 against.