The Sri Lankan government has announced that anyone found guilty of spreading false information could be imprisoned for up to three to five years.
It said a number of public disturbances have been reported in the country due to false information in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings.
A ban on social media following the attacks will remain in place due to “misinformation shared,” president Maithripala Sirisena said Friday.
Mangala wants a CID inquiry over Piyal's statement
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera requested the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to take immediate legal action regarding a false statement made by parliamentarian Piyal Nishantha during a live TV programme.
UPFA MP (Pohottuwa faction) Nishantha stated that eleven soldiers were killed during the joint operation conducted by the Army/Police in Kalmunai on Friday night.
Army spokesperson however confirmed that there were no casualties among the security forces who engaged in a fierce gun battle with a group of suspected ISIS terrorists.
"Piyal Nishantha's statement that 11 security personnel were killed during a shootout is a deliberate attempt to create panic among the people and to propagate a communal ideology", Samaraweera said adding that it was a grave crime to spread false statements to mislead the public under the present security situation in the country.
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