The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the new registration
rules introduced by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for websites hosting any manner of content on the country, which has led
to the blocking of several websites for internet users in Sri Lanka.
These include Lanka News Web, Sri Lanka Mirror, Sri Lanka Guardianand Lanka Way News.
This
latest move follows the persistent
curbs imposed on Lanka-e-News,
another website that had a wide audience within the country and has been
repeatedly targeted in recent times, including in an arson attack in January
this year.
An
official of Sri Lanka’s Media
Ministry has been quoted saying that the most recent curbs on websites were
ordered because these had persistently been engaged in “character
assassination” of the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“We call
upon the Government of Sri Lanka to
reconsider this move, in light of recent calls for greater access to
information online made in the 2011 report of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom
of Expression Frank La Rue,” IFJ Asia-Pacific
Director Jacqueline Park said.
“The IFJ
believes Sri Lanka’s
post-conflict reconciliation would be best served by having a variety of
opinions expressed, so that no section of the country has any cause to believe
that it is being left out or left behind.”
Rue’s report to the UN General Assembly called upon states to “ensure
that everyone enjoys his or her right to freedom of opinion and expression by
maintaining free flow of information on the Internet, and ensuring that the
Internet is available, accessible and affordable to all.”
The GoSL’s
record of web censorship stretches back to 2007, when Tamilnet, a website that speaks for and
represents certain viewpoints of the country’s Tamil minority was blocked. In
August this year, award-winning citizen journalism website Groundviews and its
Sinhala-language equivalent Vikalpa were also temporarily
blocked.
Observers
in Sri Lanka have
pointed out that this manner of censorship is ultimately quite futile since the
websites continue to be available through proxy services such as TOR Browser
Bundle.
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
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IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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