The Sri Lankan government is planning to bring a new law to prevent the spreading of hate speech and fake news. As per the provisions of the new law those spreading false news will be liable for five years imprisonment. Also the offender will have to pay a penalty of 10 lakh Sri Lankan rupees. During the Easter Sunday bombings incident people were using social media to spread fake news. After this incident, there were reports about assaults on people belonging to Muslim religion.
The Sri Lankan government had then held Facebook, whatsapp and Twitter for not taking steps to prevent fake news. A ban also was imposed on social media by the government for nine days. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had taken responsibility of the terror incident and also released the photos and videos of those responsible for the gruesome incident. A ban was also imposed by the government on Youtube. Sri Lankan social networks also saw a surge in fake news after the Easter suicide bombings that left 258 people dead and nearly 500 wounded.
