Sri Lanka Shuts Down Social Media

In the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks on April 21, Sri Lanka has taken the extraordinary step of closing access to many social media sites in the country.

On the government’s official news portal, the authorities state; “The government has decided to temporarily block social media sites including Facebook and Instagram. Presidential Secretariat said in a statement that the decision to block social media was taken as false news reports were spreading through social media.The statement added that security forces were conducting comprehensive investigations into the incidents of explosions and that the blockage would be effective until investigations were concluded.”