"There was plenty of praise for Sri Lanka's shutdown of many internet services in the wake of terrorist attacks which rocked the country on Easter Sunday. But little of it came from Sri Lankans, many of whom were cut off from means of communicating with relatives and forced to rely on a government-friendly media for information." Also see Netblocks, VPN services blocked in Sri Lanka as information controls tighten "On Sunday, Sri Lanka restricted access to social media platforms following a series of deadly attacks on churches and hotels. The new VPN restrictions appear to target users who have been circumventing censorship measures, which the government says are in place to prevent the spread of disinformation. Critics caution that the filtering measures are an impediment to independent media coverage and free expression as Sri Lanka comes to terms with the attacks."
BBC News, Sri Lanka attacks: Bomber 'studied in UK and Australia' "A Whitehall official confirmed the name of the bomber who had visited the UK as Abdul Latif Jamil Mohammed."
BBC News, Sri Lanka bombings ringleader died in hotel attack, president says"A previously little-known domestic radical, Hashim gained some local notoriety a few years ago as part of a group which defaced Buddhist statues. He subsequently found a following on YouTube, where he posted videos calling for violence against non-Muslims. "

Tags: Sri Lanka, Social media, Censorship, Security Issues