Access to social media was cut off, many journalists have been harassed or attacked by police and at least nine have been injured in the course of the anti-government protests under way in Sri Lanka since 31 March. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the government to let the media do its job, as this would help to end the crisis in the best manner possible.
The suppression of news and information was almost certainly the Sri Lankan government’s undeclared goal when it blocked social media throughout the island on 3 April, at a time when a curfew had already been in effect for 36 hours, backed by a state of emergency. The large spontaneous demonstrations that erupted in the streets of Colombo, the capital, on the evening of 31
Several journalists were assaulted and at least six were taken into custody by police personnel from Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) on March 31, while covering a protest in Mirihana, within the Nugegoda suburb of Colombo. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Sri Lankan affiliates, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU) , Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and the Free Media Movement (FMM), strongly condemn the journalists’ assaults and detainments and urge Sri Lanka’s government to allow journalists report independently and without fear.