Sri Lanka finally lifted its ban on social media nine days after the terror attacks, with it unclear whether the ban helped prevent its spread. misinformations.
The president of Sri Lanka has ordered the termination of the temporary ban on social media. OR ban was set implemented after devastating suicide bombings on Sunday of Catholic Easter, which left more than 250 dead.
According to the New York Times, the government today issued a statement calling on the public "to use social media responsibly, even though the ban has been lifted due to the prevailing situation in the country."
Among the nine-day blocking platforms were Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Viber. And after the ban, it is not clear whether the restrictions have contributed to containment of violence or to the dissemination of misinformation.
Sri Lanka is not the only country to block social media informations in an attempt to stop the unrest. This "logic" has already been tested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Iran and in Turkey. But prohibitions of this kind raise the question of whether it is ethical to limit all speech to direct speech connection, in an effort to stop extremists and disinformation.
