Economic crisis
After protests: Sri Lanka blocks social media
People block traffic while demanding diesel near a gas station. In order to prevent further protests, as in the past few days, the government has blocked social networks. Photo: Eranga Jayawardena/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Sri Lanka is stuck in an economic crisis, and rising prices are affecting the population. That’s why there are always protests. The government is trying to stop that.
After growing protests and violence due to rising prices, Sri Lanka temporarily blocked all social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on Sunday, according to a government spokesman.
This is apparently intended to prevent further protests. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a national emergency on Saturday after protests outside his home were violent. A curfew was later imposed for 36 hours until Monday. It was initially unclear whether the protests previously announced for Sunday would take place despite these measures.
With the declaration of a national emergency, which came into effect on Saturday, the President has extensive security powers. The armed forces also now have powers that the police usually have to arrest and detain people. The ban on going out was already checked nationwide on Saturday, and 664 people were arrested for violating it.
In the past few weeks, there have been mainly smaller protests across the country. Because in the island state south of India there is a great shortage of fuel for power generation. There are currently hour-long power outages every day. Food prices have also risen sharply. The country is heavily indebted and desperately needs US dollars to import fuel, gas, food and medicines from abroad. Sri Lanka has asked India and China for help in sourcing food and fuel, and has also asked the International Monetary Fund for financial assistance.