The MP's decision to take action against BBC journalists who reported on the Anuradhapura girl has been suspended.

It is reported that the decision to summon BBC Sinhala Service journalists before the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges, based on their reporting of a discussion held at the Forum of Women Parliamentarians regarding the current status of investigations into the alleged abuse of a minor girl in the Anuradhapura area, has been suspended.

Based on the reporting related to the child abuse allegations against Ven. Pallegama Hemarathana Thero, BBC Sinhala website's Chief Editor Ishara Dhanasekara and journalist Sampath Dissanayake were summoned before the committee on July 23rd at 2:00 PM, by order of the Speaker.

Before this summons, the Internet Media Activism (IMA) issued a statement noting that summoning journalists before the Privileges Committee was a strong attempt to intimidate and censor the entire media field. The convener of the organization, Mr. Sampath Samarakoon, pointed out that using the Parliamentary Privileges Act as an informal censorship tool with the aim of covering up administrative shortcomings was a direct threat to the public's right to information and media freedom.

The Internet Media Activism (IMA) also emphasized that considering the reporting of information from the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, which was the basis for the incident, as a breach of privilege is baseless, as it is not a statutory committee with official powers to prohibit publications. Furthermore, the organization pointed out that pressuring to abolish journalists' right to protect their sources, according to international standards, would lead to self-censorship across the field and halt the public's access to true information about corruption and abuse of power, and therefore urged for the immediate suspension of this summons.