On 21 April, the government of Sri Lanka imposed a nationwide curfew and decided to temporarily shut down all social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber, “in order to prevent incorrect and wrong information being spread” in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings.
The Sri Lankan government has lifted a ban on social media that was imposed immediately after multiple bombings hit several churches and high-end hotels in the South Asian country on Easter Sunday, Reuters reported.
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The development comes just a few days after Sri Lanka's President Mathripala Sirisena threatened to put a complete ban on social media if the heads of the social media platforms in question, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Viber, and YouTube, fail to control misinformation and rumours that have been circulating since the blasts that killed at least 253 people rocked the country on 21 April.
“We were planning to lift the social media restriction today. But yesterday there were lot of wrong information shared so we are reconsidering it now. I will meet the heads of these social media platforms today. I may ban it completely if this is not controlled”, President Sirisena said on 26 April.
Prior to the presidential statement, the country's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called on the nation to avoid propagating unverified reports and unfounded speculations.
All social media platforms…
