The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today urged the government to immediately restore social media networks without suppressing the media and causing a serious violation of the peoples’ democratic rights.

JVP MP Vijitha Herath said people who use social media for general communication and professional activities were hugely inconvenienced because the government had not taken any steps to lift the ban imposed on social media in the wake of the tense situation in Kandy.
He said in a letter to the media minister that they were doubtful whether the government was attempting to restrict peoples’ democratic rights such as the freedom of speech and the Right to Information by extending the ban on social media networks.
He said the government should have taken precautions not to allow people to resort to hate speech and statements inciting racism at the beginning and impose laws against those violating the law, before the situation got worse, alleging that the government did not act promptly when such incidents were increasing.
Mr. Herath further stated that the government was now engaged in a move similar to conducting the postmortem of the recent violent incidents.
He said the social media should not be barred due to the activities of a few people as it has become a necessity. (Ajith Siriwardana)