Social media was blocked in Sri Lanka on Sunday, where the government is trying to stem escalating protests against the president amid a severe economic crisis, according to NetBlocks, a London-based site that monitors internet blockages across the country. world.
“Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide social media block, restricting access to platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram,” NetBlocks said. AFP journalists in Sri Lanka found that none of these social networks were accessible on Sunday.
According to the pro-government channel Ada Derana, citing the media regulator in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Defense has asked internet service providers to “temporarily restrict” access to social networks.
Before the blocking took effect, anonymous activists had launched calls on the internet for new massive demonstrations on Sunday.
Saturday evening, hundreds of people had defied the state of emergency and the curfew, decreed Friday by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, by demonstrating in several cities of the country, according to the police and the inhabitants.
Armed soldiers were deployed in the streets.
The country of 22 million people is facing severe shortages of essential goods, a sharp rise in prices and long power cuts, in its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948.