Sri Lankan government has taken steps to ban popular social networking sites including Facebook and What's App, after the Sri Lankan police failed to control clashes that arose between two communities in certain parts of the country. Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), the regulator of the telecommunications industry in the country said that the public can expect a general slowdown of social media platforms until further notice. However, all social media platforms have been completely blocked since mid afternoon, today (07).
The TRC said that content in social media platforms is being filtered on the instructions of the Ministry of Defence. Accordingly, content on social media platforms such as Facebook,Twitter, What's App and Viber are being monitored. Any content that instigates or propagates violence as well as content found to be 'fake' will be filtered out.
Wednesday's blockade of social media platforms was taken "in the interest of maintenance of public order", a highly placed TRC official speaking on the condition of anonymity said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has the distinction of joining the likes of North Korea and Iran who have taken steps to ban social media platforms in their respective countries. Many activists in Sri Lanka are calling this ban egregious and asinine as it restricts freedom of expression.
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