Easter bombardment in Sri Lanka: debating the repression of social media | Bomb attacks in Sri Lanka



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Sure The listening station this week: after the attacks on Easter Sunday, social media was blocked in Sri Lanka. Was it necessary? Did it work? In addition, protesters in yellow jackets are struggling with the French media.

Block or not? Debating the repression of social media in Sri Lanka

The multiple bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, which killed about 253 people, is the worst violence the country has seen since the end of the civil war ten years ago .

Immediately after, the government shut down access to social media – Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Viber. The justification? Stop the spread of hate speech and misinformation.

However, there is a complex debate about the benefits of a social media stop versus costs.

Millions of Sri Lankans have not been able to contact their friends and family, while all indications are that closing social media does not help to monitor the spread of false rumors.

And in a country where politicians and mainstream media often misinform themselves, an Internet shutdown makes it more difficult to separate truth and fiction.

Main contributors:
Nalaka Gunawardene – author and media badyst
Sanjana Hattotuwa – Founder, Groundviews
Yudhanjaya Wijeratne – author and researcher
Dharsha Jegatheeswaran – Research Director, Adayaalam Center

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Yellow Fever: Yellow Vests and Major Media

Last week, President Emmanuel Macron announced a tax cut of $ 5.6 billion. It was one of many political changes that were a sort of victory for "yellow vests", or protesters wearing a yellow vest, who first fell into the street almost six months ago. because of the price of gasoline, cost of living and tax inequality.

The media is more than a secondary plot in this story. Protesters complain about the under-reporting of police violence and the sensationalism of the demonstrations.

The journalists were subjected to restrictions, abused by protesters and the police, and subjected to arrest. And in their suspicion of the mainstream media, yellow vests began to produce their own coverage – live broadcast on social networks.

The listening post & # 39;s Marcela Pizarro presents the conflict between the media, the state and demonstrators wearing a yellow vest.

Contributors:
Edwy Plenel – Editor-in-Chief, Mediapart
Anne Saurat Dubois – political correspondent of BFM TV
Fabrice Epelboin – media specialist, Sciences Po Paris
Xenia Fedorova – Editor-in-Chief, RT France
Jean-Jérôme Bertolus – Political Editor, France Info

Source: Al Jazeera News

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