A few days ago, the Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella had stated at Kandy that a program has been prepared through the Ministry of Mass Media and Information to register all users of social media networks in line with the government’s view to control certain situations that have arisen through social media.
The Minister had said, “We are of the view that the huge anomalies that have arisen through social media and the illegal activities that have taken place at various times should be controlled. Accordingly, we have prepared a program through the Ministry to register those who surf all social media and Facebook pages. ”
As soon as his statement was reported in the media, everyone in the country paid close attention to it. Calling that government a measure to suppress social media. As a result.
It was pointed out that this statement, which was also criticized by the opposition politicians, was a strong attack on media freedom.
Meanwhile, the Information Technology Association of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said that users should never register with the government to access social media websites and maintain an account on those websites, which would be a huge blow to technology freedom.
Amidst the protests in the country, the Minister of Mass Media and Information has issued a statement through the Government Information Department stating that the government has not taken any steps to regulate social media and that these circulating statements are untrue.
The statement said that the aim was to focus more on digital multinationals that would take over local businesses by misusing data. He says the government is considering registering foreign digital operators, not local digital operators.