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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 11294615" data-attributes="member: 92282">Sri Lanka on Saturday warned websites to register with the  authorities after the United States expressed deep concern over  Colombo's blocking of a popular Internet-based dissident publication.The  Ministry of Mass Media and Information said many reports posted on  dissident websites amounted to character assassination of President  Mahinda Rajapakse, his ministers and top officials."This ministry  believes that those who are operating and maintaining these clandestine  websites have been doing so to discredit the government, the head of  state," the ministry said in a statement."Such slanderous  publications should not only be discouraged but also acts of this nature  would have to be effectively prevented in the interest of the general  public."It said the websites should register with the ministry at  the earliest, but did not say which laws were being used against  dissident websites. It did not specify penalties for those who fail to  comply.However, the statement came four days after the US embassy  in Colombo said that freedom of expression, including unfettered access  to Internet news websites, was a basic right which must be respected by  Sri Lankan authorities."We... call on the Sri Lankan authorities  and the managements of Sri Lankan telecommunications firms to stop  activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate  media websites," the embassy said.Sri Lanka began web censorship in June 2007 with the blocking of the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website at a time when security forces stepped up their attacks against the rebels who were eventually defeated by May 2009.However, since then many website which are openly anti-government have been blocked by Sri Lankan authorities.Rights groups have repeatedly accused the government of stifling media freedoms, a charge denied by the authorities.<img src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/afp_logo.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

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