Browsing by Author "Harasgama, K. S."

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Embargo
AI and Inclusive Democracy: Transforming Governance for Equitable Societies
(CRC Press, 2026) Harasgama, K. S.; Arora, V; Singh, M; Qureshi, T
The interaction of artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy today is a confluence of opportunities for advancement around foundational values. The development of AI technologies, by leaps and bounds, holds the promise to enhance democratic processes by increasing efficiency in decision-making, streamlining governance, and stimulating civic engagement. Concerns are raised in issues of data privacy, algorithmic bias, and concentration of power in technology corporations, situations that call for very robust regulatory mechanisms if democratic values are to be upheld. The fact that AI can, therefore, lead to increased socioeconomic inequalities, manipulate public opinion, and threaten democratic institutions directly requires a proactive stance toward grappling with ethical, legal, and social implications. Governance of the various issues arising from the intersection of AI and democracy is a complex task that requires the cooperation of policymakers, technologists, ethicists, and representatives of civil society. They should strive to find the right balance between innovation and responsibility. Effective governance models need to ensure that AI systems retain and operate on the principles of fairness, transparency, and human rights. This paper discusses the challenges of AI and democracy considering electoral politics, cyber threats, psychographic profiling, and its regulation.
Open Access
Applicability of Civil Remedies in Redressing the Victims of Online Harassment
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2022) Jayamaha, S.; Harasgama, K. S.; Mahingoda, C. B
Online harassment has undoubtedly become a menace that has severe negative impacts on victims and society at large. Owing to its critical nature, jurisdictions around the world have utilized different branches of law such as criminal law, tort law and intellectual property law to redress the victims of online harassment, as well as to penalize its perpetrators. This paper attempts to analyse whether actio inuriarum under the law of delict could be employed as a corrective justice mechanism to provide redress to victims of online harassment, considering the severe emotional distress they undergo due to harm caused to their dignity, reputation and privacy. The paper adopts the view that actio injuriarum provides an effective remedy to plaintiffs for impairment of dignity, person and reputation, caused by insult. Thereby, it analyses how actio injuriarum could be utilized as a general remedy for sentimental damages suffered by the victims of online harassment. It concludes with the finding that the principles and elements of actio injuriarum are broad enough to redress the victims of online harassment.
Open Access
Combatting Cyber-Sextortion; Lessons for Sri Lanka from Australia and the United States
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2020) Harasgama, K. S.; Munasinghe, M.A.P.M.
With the world rapidly becoming digitalized and the internet being an indispensable part of human life, incidents of cyber harassment including cyber-sextortion have also increased. Cyber-sextortion often involves a perpetrator threatening to disseminate private sexual images or videos of a victim unless more sexual image/sexual favours, money or other benefit are provided by the victim. This paper analyses the adequacy of current laws in Sri Lanka in comparison with those of Australia and USA in combating cyber-sextortion. The analysis reveals that although Sri Lank lacks specific laws on cyber-sextortion, some of its existing criminal laws such as the Penal Code provisions on extortion, criminal intimidation, sexual harassment and obscene publications relating to children can be used to a certain extent to prosecute cyber-sextortion. Some provisions of the Computer Crime Act of 2007, Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act of 1998 and Obscene Publications Ordinance No. 4 of 1927 too can be used to a certain extent for this purpose. Australia, on the other hand, has targeted laws on cyber-sextortion, both at federal and state levels. At the Commonwealth level, section 474.14A of the Criminal Code of 1995 and several provisions of the Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015 (as amended) provide an apt gateway to combat cyber sextortion, while at states level, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria appear to have more comprehensive cyber sextortion laws in terms of capturing the offence. USA at the federal level does not have specific provisions on cyber-sextortion but has used non-specific provisions such as general extortion, child pornography, hacking and stalking laws for prosecutions on cyber-sextortion while at the state level, some states have introduced quite comprehensive targeted laws on cyber-sextortion, some have provisions that cover only certain types of cybersextortion. The paper concludes by proposing adoption of a targeted law on cyber sextortion outlining the key elements of a suitable law for Sri Lanka and until then to rely on non-specific provisions which are already available, in order to prosecute perpetrators of cyber-sextortion.
Open Access
Prevalence, nature and impacts of non-sexual online harassment in Sri Lanka: A quantitative analysis
(Elsevier Ltd, 2025-10-20) Harasgama, K. S.; Karunasena, K; Senarath, S; Jayamaha, S; Mahingoda, C.B; Deshapriya, W
The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence, nature and impacts of nonsexual online harassment among the youth population in Sri Lanka. Data was collected through a countrywide survey from a cross-sectional sample of 4805 young people. Data was analysed using SPSS software package. Results of this study indicate that 11.7 % of the youth population surveyed had experienced non-sexual forms of harassment in the cyberspace. The analysis also revealed the most common types of harassment experienced, the platform where harassment was committed the most, the most common types of victims and perpetrators, and the impacts of non-sexual online harassment on victims. The findings of this study suggest that Sri Lanka needs to devise targeted policies for combatting non-sexual online harassment, and that it may need to tailor its responses to the needs of each sector.
Embargo
Specific Offence of Cyber-Sextortion for Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences - SLIIT, 2021-03-26) Harasgama, K. S.; Munasinghe, M.A.P.M.
With the world rapidly becoming digitalized and the internet being an indispensable part of human life, incidents of cyber harassment including cyber sextortion have also increased. Cyber sextortion often involves a perpetrator threatening to disseminate private sexual images or videos of a victim unless more sexual image/sexual favours, money or other benefit are provided by the victim. This paper analyses the adequacy of current laws in Sri Lanka in comparison with those of Australia in combating cyber sextortion. The analysis reveals that although Sri Lanka lacks specific law on cyber sextortion, some of its existing criminal laws such as the Penal Code provisions on extortion, criminal intimidation, sexual harassment and obscene publications relating to children can be used to a certain extent to prosecute cyber-sextortion. Some provisions of the Cyber Crime Act of 2007, Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act of 1998 and Obscene Publications Ordinance No. 4 of 1927 too can be used to a certain extent for this purpose. Australia, on the other hand, has targeted laws on cyber-sextortion, especially at state level. Analysis of these laws reveal that most of the state laws, except one, are focused on cyber-sextortion which involves threats to distribute sexually explicit images of a victim and are not broad enough to cover forms of cyber-sextortion involving other types of threats. Having mental elements which focus on intent to cause fear or alarm rather than intent to compel the victim to comply with the demands of the perpetrator was also identified as a drawback of these laws. The paper concludes by proposing adoption of a targeted law on cyber sextortion for Sri Lanka and outlining the key elements of a suitable law.