Media outlets won't be suppressed : Keheliya

COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka's mass media minister has dismissed any intention of suppressing media outlets that are critical of the government, a day after he backtracked on a statement to register social media users. "We have no plan as such at present," Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters during a media briefing. The government spokesman, on Sunday, had said his media ministry would register social media users to counter "inappropriate digital content", but reversed it to "foreign digital operators" a day later. The statement has since sparked criticism among civic and opposition groups that accuse the government of attempting to thwart media freedom. "The government is trying to shut down social media which enables the common man to practice free speech," Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Jathika Jana Balawegaya said. "We should defeat attempts to regulate social media". Dissanayake insisted that the government has no right to regulate the ideas of the people.