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Sri Lanka lifts ban on social media

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ANI Asia
Last Updated : Apr 30 2019 | 6:05 PM IST

Sri Lanka on Tuesday lifted a temporary ban on several social media networks, which was put in place to prevent spreading misinformation after the ghastly suicide bombings on Easter Sunday.

The government has urged people to use social media responsibly saying "use social media responsibly even though the ban is lifted, due to the prevailing situation in the country".

Along with social media bans, the government has imposed lockdown, with nightly curfews for several days.

With this, life in Sri Lanka has started reviving, which came to stand still after a series of coordinated bombings shook the South Asian island nation. Over 250 people were killed in the attack.

Sri Lanka is known for taking such preventive measures in the past. Last year, in March during Kandu riots also Sri Lanka had blocked popular social media networks, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber and Instagram to name a few, for three days in order to prevent the spreading of communal violence across the country.

Meanwhile, the security forces are still on high alert and trying to locate a direct connection between Islamic states and attackers and the Islamic State hub in Syria.

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On Monday, a video featuring the shadowy leader of Islamic States Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is making rounds on the Internet. al-Baghdadi, in the 18-minute address, said that the April 21 attacks in Sri Lanka were "vengeance" for ISIL's "brothers in Baghouz".

Ruwan Gunasekara, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan police, said in a statement on Monday that 59 suspects "with terrorists links" have been detained since the attacks and investigators are questioning them.

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First Published: Apr 30 2019 | 5:52 PM IST

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