New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century. Most technologies described as "new media" are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, interactive, and impartial. The internet is known as a kind of global meeting place where people from all parts of the world can come together and share information. According to Henson, Reyns, and Fisher, they define "Cyber-crime refers to any illegal activity that occurs in the virtual world of cyberspace". This research studied the Sri Lankan cyber-crime and legal background about cyber-crime. In this research, it studied selected cases relating to cyber-crime in Sri Lanka. The authors examined the situation, evidence. In Sri Lanka, there have been four main acts which used in prevention of cyber-crime. Content analyzed these acts. In Sri Lanka, there is a challenge in preventing cyber-crimes. The growth of network-based crime has raised difficult issue in respect of appropriate balance between the needs of those investigating and prosecuting such crime, and the rights of users of such networks.Increasing the awareness about new media literacy is one way to minimize cyber-crime. Also, Sri Lankan legal system needs to be modified.
Keywords: cyber space, cyber-crime, internet, new media, lawThe advancement of technology such as the internet has provided individuals and organizations with a means to both commit new types of crimes and adopt new methods of committing traditional street crimes. From online identity theft to cyber-stalking to viruses, millions of people worldwide are affected by online deviant behavior every day.The origins of the internet can be traced back well over several decades to the early 1960s. Originally developed for military and educational applications, interlinked computer networks were designed to allow individuals and working groups to store and share information quickly and efficiently. The internet is based on single technical standards that allow global communication. This has the advantage of allowing the globalization of internet services (such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and others) that are operated in one country but can be accessed by users from all over the world. The internet has become important for daily life, education, work, and participation in society. A large majority of households and individuals make use of it today. Internet usage increased gradually all over the world. In 2000, 360,985,492 people used internet. At that time, 1,386,188,112 people in Asia used internet. In 2014, those values increased a lot. Currently, an estimated