(22 Apr 2019) Sri Lanka's abrupt shutdown of social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram and others in the wake of the string of deadly Easter terror attacks left worried friends and relatives in places like New York's "Little Sri Lanka" in the dark.
But even they acknowledged it was a necessary step to tamp down rumors and keep the situation from spiraling even further out of control.
"I think what the government has done temporarily shut down the social media is very good at the moment," James Moses who lives in the Staten Island neighborhood and has family living in Sri Lanka said.
The lightning fast reaction reflects accumulated distrust in the capability of American internet companies to control harmful content.
Dhannitha Meemanag, who works in the neighborhood said he has only been able to contact relatives by phone using landlines.
The block on social media was announced by the government's official news portal, which cited the spread of "false news reports" online.
The NetBlocks observatory said it detected an intentional blackout of the popular platforms as well as YouTube, Snapchat and Viber. Twitter appeared unaffected.
Sri Lanka's defense ministry said the shutdown would extend until the government wraps up its investigation into the bomb blasts.
Officials likely feared that the spread of inflammatory content could provoke more bloodshed in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority island nation that has large Hindu, Muslim and Christian minorities and a long history of ethnic and sectarian conflict.
At least 290 people were killed in the bombings.
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