WorldRisk

Which passport do you hold?

Risk to a traveller depends on their nationality. A country that sanctions your destination, or is sanctioned by it, changes how you are treated on arrival. Choosing here adjusts every score on the site.

We hold travel advice written for four nationalities so far. Selecting anything else shows the neutral baseline, and every page says so where it applies rather than presenting it as an assessment made for you.

Kept in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere, and you can change it at any time from the header.

All countries

Sri Lanka

42Caution42 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49good confidence(7/7 dimensions)
What this score means
Extreme75 to 100
Severe and systematic. Device search, interception and detention over online activity are documented rather than theoretical. Reconsider what you carry and what you say.
High50 to 74
Substantial and consistently evidenced measures. Device inspection, monitored networks or restricted services should be expected rather than treated as unlikely.
Caution25 to 49
Some risk, and manageable with precautions. Measures are evidenced but are narrow, inconsistently applied, or the picture is mixed.
Low0 to 24
Ordinary precautions. No systematic device search, network restriction or prosecution of visitors for online speech is evidenced.

Government travel advice is written for one citizenry, so the same country carries a different assessment depending on your passport. Change it in the header.

Showing the baseline, which weights every issuer equally. No government in our corpus publishes travel advice written for you, so this is not addressed to you specifically.

Dimensions

Each dimension is scored independently, because the traveller who cares about legal exposure for what they have posted is often not the one carrying client data. Higher means more risk.

Speech and legal exposure

What legal risk attaches to what I have said online, or say while I am there?

70High70 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence7 independent sources

Why this score (13 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored LKA 2 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • Freedom House 2026 scored LKA 3 of 4 on free and independent media.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored LKA 3.61 of 4 on how routinely the government censors political content on social media, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored LKA 1.39 of 4 on how often people are arrested for political content they posted online, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • Sri Lanka - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

    US Department of State, Travel Advisories · observed 2025-10-14 · written for USA nationals

  • FCDO advice for Sri Lanka: no advisory against travel in force.

    UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice · observed 2026-09-21 · written for GBR nationals

  • Sri Lanka: Exercise a high degree of caution

    Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories · observed 2026-10-13 · written for CAN nationals

  • Sri Lanka: No travel warning in force

    Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise · observed 2026-07-17 · written for DEU nationals

  • The law grants authorities sweeping powers to impose prolonged detention without charge or judicial oversight and has frequently enabled torture to secure convictions based on forced confessions.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-08-24 · extracted by language model

  • The bill includes a broad and vague definition of terrorism, which includes crimes that do not constitute terrorism, and could be construed as prohibiting political activism.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-08-24 · extracted by language model

  • Activists have also been targeted and criminalised using defamation and counter-terror laws, and there has been a systematic failure to address past crimes against them.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-03-27 · extracted by language model

  • Five individuals were arrested by Katana Police in February 2026 for allegedly directing verbal abuse towards President Anura Kumara Dissanayake near the Southern Expressway entry point in Mattala and subsequently posting the video on social media.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-03-27 · extracted by language model

  • The bill criminalises anyone who publishes or distributes written or visual material “with the intention of directly or indirectly encouraging or inducing the public or any section of the public, to commit, attempt, abet, conspire to commit or prepare to commit, the offence of terrorism.”

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-03-27 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search, observed 2023-10-18: aged out after 3 years.

Border device risk

How likely is my device to be searched, imaged, or seized at the border, and can I be compelled to unlock it?

55High55 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence6 independent sources

Why this score (6 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Surveillance and interception

How comprehensively are communications intercepted, retained, and monitored, and is commercial spyware in use?

45Caution45 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence4 independent sources

Why this score (5 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored LKA 2 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored LKA 2.87 of 4 on how comprehensively the government monitors social media and private online communication, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored LKA 3.02 of 4 on how far privacy protection law shields communications from government access, where higher is freer. This measures what privacy law permits rather than what monitoring is practised, so it is read here as a constraint on interception rather than a measurement of it.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 scored LKA 0.32 of 1 on whether freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy is effectively guaranteed, a measure built from expert assessments of warrantless interception of communications.

    World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6 · observed 2025-01-01

  • In June 2026, residents, activists and elected representatives who gathered in Valvettithurai to demand the release of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar, faced threats, intimidation and surveillance by occupying Sri Lankan police ahead of the demonstration.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-08-24 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Network threat

How hostile is the network environment to a foreign visitor, from state actors and criminals alike?

34Caution34 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence3 independent sourcesEvidence is ageing: contributing sources are weighted at 66% of full strength.

Why this score (3 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Connectivity continuity

How likely am I to lose access to the internet, or to the specific tools I depend on?

31Caution31 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence7 independent sources

Why this score (15 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search, observed 2023-10-18: aged out after 3 years.

Data jurisdiction

What happens to corporate or client data I carry into the jurisdiction?

29Caution29 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

moderate confidence1 independent source

Why this score (1 source)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Encryption and VPN legality

Are VPNs and strong encryption lawful, and can I be required to install an application or hand over keys?

28Caution28 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence2 independent sources

Why this score (2 sources)

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored LKA 2.51 of 4 on whether the government regulates the internet in a way consistent with international human rights standards, where higher is freer. This does not establish whether encryption or VPN use is lawful. It measures internet regulation in general, and is used as indirect evidence because the only survey that reads encryption law directly was published in 2019.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • OONI recorded no confirmed blocking across 2,042 measurements of anonymity and censorship circumvention tools in LKA over the 90 days to 2026-10-16, with 78 further results inconclusive.

    Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data · observed 2026-10-16

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Trend

02550751002026-08-162026-10-16

The overall score is up 11.4 points over 61 days, from 30.4 to 41.8. Most movement is the event overlay decaying rather than anything happening: a news signal loses half its weight every three weeks, so a score drifts back toward its structural baseline on its own. A step that holds is the one worth reading.

Check this yourself

These are not inputs to the score for Sri Lanka. They are where to look if you want to test what is above against something we did not use.

Sources

This assessment draws on 13 sources: Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise; CIVICUS Monitor country updates; Freedom House, Freedom in the World; Freedom House, Freedom on the Net, obstacles to access; Georgia Tech Internet Intelligence Lab, Internet Outage Detection and Analysis; Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories; International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information; Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice; US Department of State, Travel Advisories; V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project; World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6. Every contributing claim is quoted with its origin and date above. Model version 0.12.0, computed 2026-10-16.

If something here is wrong, say so. Corrections are handled in public, and we correct because the evidence is wrong, not because someone objects.