Sri Lanka’s draft media policy must protect freedoms and not just prescribe rules, says PRCA country rep

THE Public Relations and Communications Association Asia Pacific (PRCA APAC), together with Mark and Comm Ltd., acknowledges the Government's step in developing a national media policy.

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As professionals committed to ethical communication and the strengthening of public discourse, we welcome the initiative in principle. However, we believe the current draft, while broad in scope, requires significant refinement in both substance and structure to truly serve the public interest, and calls to extend consultation deadline to allow proper public participation.

The draft outlines objectives around media development, accountability, and regulation but stops short of explaining how these functions will be implemented with fairness, independence, and transparency. References to reforming existing laws or building new frameworks are vague, leaving unanswered how oversight will be safeguarded from political or institutional interference. Trust in regulation begins with trust in process.

The draft fails to meet international best practices established by other countries, which have successfully balanced media regulation with freedom of expression. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the response states. This policy, as currently drafted, risks violating our international obligations to protect press freedom and access to information.

Throughout the draft, terms like “public interest,” “hate speech,” and “misinformation” appear frequently but without clear definitions or legal boundaries. In any democratic context, and especially in transitional societies, such ambiguity creates room for misuse. Policies that shape how media operates must be built on precision, not broad strokes.