Member-only story
Not long ago, social media giants like Twitter and Facebook were soaking up praise for playing an essential role in supporting democratic revolutions in the Middle East. But less than a decade later, these same platforms are now widely derided as hotbeds of hate speech and disinformation, so much so that even some prominent tech journalists are supporting one country’s decision to temporarily ban social media sites.
After more than 300 people were killed in a series of coordinated bombings last weekend, the Sri Lankan government moved to do just that, starting with a temporary ban on Facebook. In a statement, the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry proclaimed that the internet blockade would remain intact for the duration of the investigation. In a separate statement, Udaya Seneviratne, secretary to the Sri Lankan president, said access to social media services had been restricted in the wake of the attacks to counter “false news reports.”
The country is no stranger to employing such restrictions in the wake of violence. Last March, Sri Lankan authorities demanded that ISPs block access to Facebook and the company’s other services after members of the majority Sinhalese ethnic group launched a series of brutal attacks against Muslims in the city of Kandy. The country’s government has frequently criticized Facebook for doing too little to rein in disinformation and hate speech directed by Sinhalese nationalist groups against the country’s minority Muslim population.
There’s not much data to suggest that banning access to platforms would solve the underlying issues driving these problems.
But data from NetBlocks, a London-based digital rights group, indicates that this latest Sri Lankan ban goes much further, targeting not only Facebook and subsidiaries like Instagram and WhatsApp, but also additional services including YouTube. NetBlocks told OneZero that Sri Lankan ISPs are using domain name server (DNS)–level bans to render the sites and services inaccessible.
While Facebook’s role as an amplifier for hate speech and disinformation has plagued numerous…
