Sri Lanka imposes nationwide social media blackout ahead of protest
Colombo (Sri Lanka), April 3: The government of Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide social media blackout after midnight on Sunday, according to an internet observatory.
Around two dozen social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram have been affected.
"Confirmed: Real-time network data show Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide social media blackout, restricting access to platforms including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram as an emergency is declared amid widespread protests," read a tweet by NetBlocks.
The nationwide social media blackout comes ahead of the planned protest for Sunday. The island nation had declared a 36-hour curfew from Saturday to Monday as the country faced a severe power crisis and rising inflation.
Sri Lanka, which has a population of 22 million people, is struggling to deal with blackouts that can last up to 13 hours a day as it tries to secure foreign exchange to pay for fuel imports.
A London-based rights watchdog group urged the Sri Lankan government on Saturday that the island nation's declaration of emergency in the name of public security should not be used as a pretext for human rights violations.
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"Sri Lanka: The declaration of the state of emergency in the name of public security should not become a pretext for further human rights violations. The order declaring a state of emergency intends to restrict the rights to freedom of association, assembly and movement as well as due process protections," read a statement by Amnesty International.
"In the context of growing public discontentment with the government's handling of economic crisis, the state of emergency could have the effect of stifling dissent by creating fear, facilitating arbitrary arrests and detention," it added.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday issued the Extraordinary Gazette declaring a state of public emergency in Sri Lanka with immediate effect.
Rajapaksa stated that the emergency was declared in the interests of public security, protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.
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-PTC News
