By Yoshitha PereraThe draft of the proposed legislation on action against the spreading of fake news and misleading digital content via social media has not yet been finalised, The Sunday Morning learnt. Mayadunne said that the drafting of new laws to curb the spread of alleged falsehoods has not reached its final stages and it would take some time to complete the draft. “At this point, I can’t mention an exact time period, and it will take some time to present the final draft to Cabinet,” he said. In April 2021, the Cabinet approved the legal concept papers to mark fake news as an offence under the Penal Code. The statement further mentioned that persons sharing falsehoods on social media could be arrested without a warrant.

Source: The Nation July 03, 2021 16:52 UTC