Sri Lanka lifts ban on social media after eight days
Facebook officials met the government and assured them the website would not be used to incite violence.
Sri Lanka lifted a ban on social media website Facebook on Thursday, over a week after it had blocked access to prevent further communal violence, AP reported. The country has already lifted the ban on WhatsApp and Viber over the last few days.
The government had imposed the ban on the three social media services on March 7, soon after clashes between Buddhist and Muslim groups in Kandy prompted the declaration of a 10-day state of emergency in the island nation.
Representatives from Facebook met government officials on Thursday and assured them that the platform would not be used for hate speech and incitement of violence, said President Maithripala Sirisena. He said he had ordered that the ban be lifted immediately.
On my instructions, my secretary has discussed with officials of Facebook, who have agreed that its platform will not be used for spreading hate speech and inciting violence. As such, I instructed TRCSL to remove the temporary ban on Facebook with immediate effect.
— Maithripala Sirisena (@MaithripalaS) March 15, 2018
“Social media websites such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber have been used to destroy families, lives and private property,” Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando had said last week while announcing the ban. “Put down your smart phones, let go of your hate and help make a new Sri Lanka that is good for everyone.”
On Tuesday, he said the ban would be lifted by March 16.
Sirisena has appointed a three-member committee of retired judges to investigate the incidents of violence in Kandy district that continued over the past week despite the emergency. On Monday, Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the emergency would not be extended beyond March 15, as the situation had returned to normal.