Multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber, and YouTube were restricted in Sri Lanka on April 3.
Internet monitoring organization Netblocks said the government declared a state of emergency, imposing curfews to counter widespread protests over the economic crisis.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is under pressure to resign following demonstrations against his handling of the country’s worst economic crisis in decades and as doctors held street protests over a shortage of medicine.
Reuters says Rajapaksa, who has governed the South Asian island nation since 2019, revoked a state of emergency late on Tuesday after five days as dozens of lawmakers walked out of the ruling coalition, leaving his government in a minority.
“Debt-laden Sri Lanka has been struggling to pay for imports due to a shortage of foreign exchange, and is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this month for a loan programme,” Reuters said.
Going by the study by cybersecurity company Surfshark, Sri Lanka becomes the 11th country in Asia to block social media amid protests in the past seven years.
“Restricting social media or overall Internet access is common in Asian countries, especially during political events – elections, protests, or demonstrations,” Surfshark said in a statement.
According to the study, at least 24 countries in Asia have blocked social media since 2015, with 11 banning it to counter protests. Six countries have permanent blockages on popular social media or VoIP apps.
The list of restricted social media platforms in Sri Lanka is similar to previous social media shutdowns imposed by authorities in Asia. These governments usually go after communication apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The restrictions came into effect across multiple providers from midnight and were largely restored after 16 hours. During the incident, all of Sri Lanka’s major network operators, including Dialog, Sri Lanka Telecom, Mobitel, and Hutch, were covered by the measure.
Fully or partially impacted social media and messaging platforms included Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger.
Last year, social media or complete internet shutdowns were recorded 19 times in 17 countries, with five incidents in Asia (in Armenia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and two times in Iran).
The vast majority of social media shutdowns in 2021 happened during political events such as protests (37 per cent of all cases) or elections (21 per cent). The research shows that in 2021, internet disruptions affected approximately 250 million people.
The data was collected through open-source information from Freedom House, Netblocks, and reputable news reports from 2015. Social media was conceptualized as social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, etc.) and communication apps, including VoIP apps (i.e., Skype, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber).
Both local and national social media blockings were considered in the study.
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