Government Orders Action Over Defamatory Content Targeting Women and Girls

30-Aug-2026

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The Government has ordered strict action against Facebook accounts that share photographs of women and girls without their consent, accompanied by sexually explicit and defamatory comments, through fake accounts.

The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has instructed the police to take legal action against those operating and participating in such accounts. It has also requested the National Child Protection Authority to exercise its legal powers and take appropriate action.

Photographs of women are reportedly being shared with sexually suggestive comments on more than 14,000 Facebook accounts. It has also been alleged that some individuals are selling these photographs for money and falsely suggesting that the women depicted are soliciting sexual relations.

Ministry Secretary Tharangani Wickremasinghe said police investigations were under way into such Facebook accounts and that a letter had also been sent to the Attorney General’s Department seeking further legal advice.

Meanwhile, the Computer Emergency Response Team said such content had been removed from social media platforms including TikTok and Telegram, while efforts to remove the Facebook accounts were continuing.

Engineer Charuka Damunupola of the Computer Emergency Response Team said Meta was cooperating by providing details of such fake accounts to the police. He also noted that offenders could be prosecuted and punished under the Penal Code.

The Ministry’s Child and Women Abuse Investigation Unit and the Computer Crime Investigation Division are jointly conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter.