Research Publications
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Publication 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. BOnline 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.Publication 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.Publication Embargo Violation of Human Dignity through Online Harassment: A Case for Stronger Protection of Privacy in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2022-09-15) Harasgama, K; Jayamaha, SHuman dignity, a concept widely discussed philosophical, political and legal spheres, has gained importance with its recognition under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a foundation of human rights. Dignity is understood to be inherent in humans. Scholars observe dignity to be twofold; firstly, dignity by reason of humans having the capacity to rationalize and secondly humans as social animals having a sense of self-worth and social standing. Human Dignity, therefore, is universally recognized so as human rights in general. On the contrary, Privacy is just another right and does not command a wide and equal standing in every society. Privacy relates to the personal space; be it bodily, informational, territorial or communicational within which a person expects to be free from scrutiny. Privacy refers to the limit to which one desires to expose himself to others. It is understood that privacy is one element which contributes to the notion of dignity. Privacy violations will therefore lead to the degradation of human dignity. This is illustrated in cases of online harassment as publication of intimate, sexually explicit video/images of individuals, impersonating victims, and defaming or insulting victims in public categorically invade the privacy of individuals thus violating their human dignity. Sri Lanka has a piecemeal approach to protecting privacy, which is scattered around various statutes and case law, and is of limited scope. Upholding dignity, therefore, is challenged although the Sri Lankan Constitution and case law identify dignity as foundational. Hence, it is argued that a state which is concerned with upholding the dignity of its citizens should be equally concerned about protecting the privacy of those citizens.Publication Open Access Online Harassment in Sri Lanka: A Thematic Analysis(MDPI, 2023-03-15) Harasgama, K.S; Jayamaha, S: Online harassment has become a growing menace worldwide for which every nation is trying to find a solution. Existing literature demonstrates that online harassment is widespread in diverse forms and so is its impact on the victims. Despite the lack of any comprehensive studies in this area, there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate the prevalence of online harassment in Sri Lanka and the need to find effective solutions to it. In such circumstances, this study aims to understand the nature of online harassment in the Sri Lankan context using qualitative research methodology. To that end, the study uses thematic analysis for analysing the data collected through semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis was employed for the study as it assists in classifying complex qualitative data into different and simplified themes for better understanding and interpretation of such data. Among other findings, the analysis revealed three global themes, namely the motives of the perpetrators, the impact on victims, and remedies. Under each global theme, the study revealed various organising and basic themes, also indicating that the motives of the perpetrators and the impact on the victims are closely connected. It further reveals that impacts could be extremely serious, ranging from helplessness to suicidal thoughts, humiliation to broken relationships, and even having adverse impacts on the careers of victims. The study also found that the available remedies are not systematic or strong enough to meet the expectations of the victims. Thus, we conclude that the threat from online harassment in Sri Lanka is similar to that in any other country, requiring immediate and well-planned legal and policy responses, as exposed by the key themes identified in the study.