Sri Lanka lifts ban on Facebook

Mar 15, 2018 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to lift the ban on popular social media site Facebook, 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," the President tweeted a short while ago. "As such, I instructed TRCSL to remove the temporary ban on Facebook with immediate effect." The government in the last two days lifted the restriction imposed on WhatsApp and Viber following difficulties being voiced by people particularly, Sri Lankan workers abroad, business community, and tourists. The TRC, last Tuesday (06th March 2018) issued a directive to all telecom companies to block access to social media apps Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber in a bid to control attacks by extremist groups against the Muslim community in the Kandy District. The Government claimed that Facebook had been a key space for extremists to organise and recruit supporters.