by Hibberd Kline
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Over the past few days, access to at least six news websites including the official website for Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), has been blocked by the Sri Lankan Telecommunication Regulation Commission.
Currently blocked websites include: www.lankanews.com, srilankamirror.com, srilankaguardian.com, paparacigossip9.com and www.lankawaynews.com.
Despite domestic and international criticism, the Sri Lankan government has defended the ban on the grounds that the websites had maligned the President, ministers and top government officials.
Sunil Jayasekara, convener for media watchdog the Free Media Movement, labeled the government’s ban “a brutal crackdown.”
The ministry has attempted to counter such criticism by claiming that the banned websites engaged in publishing materials amounting to “character assassination and violating individual privacy” and that several complaints had been lodged against the sites.
However, the editor of srilankanmirror.com, Kelum Shivantha, believes that no complaints were filed against the news sites. He challenged the government’s assessment, stating that the website always presented fair coverage and included “both sides of the story” in its reporting.
The government did not explain specifically which content spurred it to impose the ban, but each of the banned sites has recently criticized the government. Some of the sites specifically accused politicians of corruption and malfeasance.
Last month, access was similarly blocked to Lanka-e-News’ website after it reported news critical of President Rajapaksa and his brothers.
Although Sri Lankan law does not technically ban criticism of the country’s leaders, the media is often forced to walk a fine line in order to avoid defamation charges.
In a further move, the Ministry of Mass Media and Information issued a statement on Saturday, calling for all websites “carrying any content relating to Sri Lanka,” wherever in the world they operate, to register with the government as soon as possible or face legal action.
Members of both the Sri Lankan media and the opposition have strongly protested both the ban and the registration requirement.
Senior member of the opposition, Mangala Samaraweera, said that the registration requirement was “absurd” and that the government was “paranoid.”
The UNP has pledged to continue campaigning against online news media censorship and is considering legal action.
Additionally, the United States Embassy in Colombo added its voice to the protest in a statement expressing the Embassy’s “deep concern” and calling on the Sri Lankan government “to stop activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate news websites, including Lanka-e-News.”
The embassy’s statement made it clear that in the view of the United States “a free and independent media is vital to ensuring the health and continuation of any democracy.”
The statement went on to say that “freedom of expression, including unfettered access to internet news websites is a basic right, which must be respected.”
Acting president of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, Gnanasiri Kottigoda, took the sentiment of the embassy’s statement further when he accused the government outright of attempting to undermine democracy by restricting the people’s access to information.
However, Sri Lanka’s news companies are not entirely new to registration requirements. Newspapers, radio and television stations must all register before they begin to publish or broadcast.
Furthermore, the government has previously instituted varying degrees of media censorship during its long struggle with the Tamil Tigers.
According to Paris-based campaign group, Reporters Without Borders, in spite of the fact that the war with the Tigers has been brought to an end journalists continue to be the targets of violence in Sri Lanka. The Group said that perpetrators of attacks on journalists enjoy impunity.
In the past year, lankanews, one of the banned websites which has been highly critical of the government, had its headquarters set on fire. Lankanews blamed the government for starting the fire.
Additionally, the website has received repeated threats of further violence and a lankanews reporter has been missing for over a year.
In spite of the government’s highly controversial move, some in the media community have pointed out that the ban may be largely futile.
According to Information Technology specialist Gihan Mendis, tech-savvy individuals inside Sri Lanka are still able to access the banned sites through proxies. Gihan explained that only developed nations, such as China, have the money and high-tech capacity required to completely block websites.
However, others view the website ban as just one of many measures in an ongoing government effort to search out and stifle dissent.
For more information, please see:
ABC News — Sri Lanka Blocks 5 News Websites over ‘Insults’ — 7 November 2011
BBC News — Sri Lanka Blocks Websites for ‘Maligning’ President — 7 November 2011
BBC News — Website Blocking ‘a Brutal Crackdown’ — 6 November 2011
Sunday Times — Government Blocks More Websites, All Must Register — 6 November 2011
Reuters — Sri Lanka Urges News Websites to Register after Ban — 5 November 2011
