Relatives place flowers after the burial of three victims of the same family, who died at Easter Sunday bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, April 22, 2019. VOA
The shutdown reflects governments' worldwide growing mistrust of Facebook, Google and other digital platforms during periods of crisis, he said.
"What's different to me is this sense that enough is enough' with the internet companies. The narrative up to three years ago was that technology companies can help us in times of crisis," he said. "There really is a shift in the public conversation of what we expect from technology companies — from a sense that they are positive forces to ones that are more complicated and possibly negative."
Shutdowns are becoming more common after politically sensitive events such as elections, said Peter Micek with Access Now, a digital rights group.
What appears to be changing is that "authorities are putting tragedies such as a terrorist attack or a disaster in the same bucket as politically sensitive events," Micek said. "I don't know how governments can communicate with their constituencies with these media bans in place. They only increase the risks to health and safety."
Social media-fueled unrest
Sri Lankans have experienced social media shutdowns in the past. In March 2018, Sri Lanka turned off access for more than eight days after anti-Muslim riots that left three people dead.