Facebook and Instagram blocked by Sri Lanka authorities after blasts

Sri Lankan authorities flicked the off switch on most social media after Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels killed hundreds of people – a dramatic reaction that reflects distrust in the capability of American internet companies to control harmful content.

The block on social media, including Facebook and its Whatsapp and Instagram services, was announced by the government’s official news portal, which cited the spread of “false news reports” online. The Netblocks observatory said it detected an inten0 ‘Telling moment’: Ivan Sigal of Global Voices

tional blackout of the popular platforms as well as Youtube, Snapchat and Viber. Twitter appeared unaffected.

Officials likely feared the spread of inflammatory content could provoke more bloodshed in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority island nation that has large Hindu, Muslim and Christian minorities and a long history of ethnic and sectarian conflict. At least 290 people were killed in the bombings.

Ivan Sigal, head of the internet and journalism advocacy organisation Global Voices, said the country’s rapid action was a “telling moment”.

“A few years ago we’d be using these platforms to help each other and co-ordinating assistance,” he wrote on Twitter. “Now we view them as a threat. If I were Facebook and Whatsapp I’d take a moment to ask myself where I’d gone wrong.”