The Sri Lankan government has no power to suspend 2 million Facebook accounts without owners – Information Technology Association

The Sri Lankan government has no power to suspend 2 million Facebook accounts without owners - Information Technology Association

Here is a press release issued by the Information Technology Association of Sri Lanka.

Media Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella has stated that legal action will be taken shortly to suspend about 2 million accounts that have been identified as having no proper owners out of the total number of Facebook accounts in the country, according to media reports.

About 76 lakhs of Sri Lankans are currently registered as users of the Facebook social media website.

Meanwhile, we, the Information Technology Association of Sri Lanka, are amazed at the basis on which the Minister of Mass Media and Information states that about 2 million of those user accounts are accounts without proper ownership.

We, as the Association of Information Technology of Sri Lanka, point out to the Government that no government or other third party group has the power to remove, regulate or control Facebook accounts.

We at the Sri Lanka Information Technology Association strongly condemn such foolish statements made by various ministers to intimidate social media users

Rajiv Yasiru Kuruwitage Mathew Chairman Information Technology Association of Sri Lanka