Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Government bans Social media sites, curfew imposed as protests spread 

Sri Lanka, the Island nation is experiencing a severe economic crisis as a result of dwindling foreign reserves. Due to the collapse of the tourism sector, its economy has been in free fall since the COVID-19 pandemic. The  experiencing of  foreign exchange deficit, has resulted in food, fuel, power, and gas shortages in the country.

Meanwhile, In an effort to prevent more protests blaming the government for the increasing economic crisis, Sri Lanka has blocked access to major social media platforms and a 36-hour curfew has also been imposed in Sri Lanka in a bid to control the anti-government protests in the island nation which has a population of 22 million. The curfew began at 6 pm on Saturday and will continue till Monday 6 am..

On Sunday, most of Sri Lanka's internet users were unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. Network data obtained from over 100 vantage points around Sri Lanka by Netblocks, a worldwide internet monitor, indicated that the limitations would take effect at midnight across numerous providers.

The stringent restrictions are aimed at preventing new protests, after crowds were accused of setting vehicles ablaze near the president's private residence on Thursday.

Since then, the military has been deployed, and they now have the authority to arrest people without a warrant. Public outrage has reached new heights as a result of power outages lasting half a day or longer, as well as a dearth of fuel, vital food, and medicines.

During times of unrest, Sri Lanka has a history of imposing nationwide social media restrictions. In this case, the list of banned sites looks to be very similar to the list used during prior national social media bans enforced by authorities.

After President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced a state of emergency, Sri Lanka is under a nationwide curfew from Saturday night till Monday morning. Protests seeking the president's resignation were organised via social media platforms, with claims that he is to blame for the economic crisis.

As discontent over shortages of critical supplies, petrol, and protracted power outages boiled over this week, Rajapaksa assumed emergency powers at midnight on Friday, prompting calls for nationwide rallies on Sunday.