Crisis-hit Sri Lanka blocks social media, imposes curfew to tackle violent protests

Platforms including Facebook and Twitter were shut down while security forces blocked opposition lawmakers who held a curfew-defying march

The government is seeking a bailout from the IMF as it scrambles to pay for fuel and other essential imports

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Sri Lankan’s stage a protest against the current economic crisis in their country. Photo: EPA

Published: 3:37am, 3 Apr 2022Updated: 5:04pm, 3 Apr 2022

Armed troops in Sri Lanka blocked a Sunday opposition protest march staged in defiance of an emergency curfew to protest the island nation’s worsening economic crisis, after authorities imposed a social media blackout to contain public dissent.

The South Asian nation is facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, along with sharp price rises and crippling power cuts, in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a state of emergency on Friday, the day after a crowd attempted to storm his home in the capital Colombo, and a nationwide curfew is in effect until Monday morning.

Sri Lankans gather at a fuel station to buy diesel before the beginning of curfew on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Photo: AP

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Sri Lanka’s main opposition alliance, denounced a social media blackout aimed at quelling intensifying public demonstrations, and said it was time for the government to resign.

Troops armed with automatic assault rifles moved to stop a protest by opposition lawmakers and hundreds of their supporters attempting to march to the capital’s Independence Square.

The road was barricaded a few hundred metres from the home of opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the crowd engaged in a tense stand-off with security forces for nearly two hours before dispersing peacefully.

“President Rajapaksa better realise that the tide has already turned on his autocratic rule,” SJB lawmaker Harsha de Silva said.