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Why Facebook disabled Minister and BBS
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Technology and Research Minister and Jathika Hela Urumaya stalwart Patali Champika Ranawaka on Friday had to create another official Facebook account and page, after they were disabled by Facebook administration. This time, he made sure to display the official Identity Card issued by Parliament that he is an MP. Both sides of the ID have been displayed in the social networking site page. Details include his national identity card number, electoral district (national list) and date of issue.
A shocked Minister last week found his FB account disabled by the Facebook administrators and had immediately e-mailed them seeking an explanation. He had been told that the reason would be notified later.Two media statements were issued by the media unit of the Technology and Research Ministry in this regard. One was about Facebook disabling his account and the second on the opening of a new account.
“FB authorities have informed the disabling of the account has been because the name given by the Minister was Hon.Patali Champika Ranawaka, as mentioned in the Parliament ID and not Patali Champika Ranawaka,” the the statement issued on Friday said. However, those looking for the Minister will find at least five fake accounts created using his name.The personal FB account of Galagoda-Aththe Gnanasara Thera of the Bodu Bala Sena was also disabled. “Facebook ekata aba saranai,” he said to local media. This came a month after the disabling of the organisation’s official FB page.
Facebook in its privacy policy requests users to abstain from posting content that: is hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence. It also states that those involved in bullying, intimidating, or harassing any user is also at risk of having their account disabled.
Using Facebook to do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory or operate a third-party application containing alcohol-related, dating or other mature content (including advertisements) without appropriate age-based restrictions are among the other reasons that threaten the safety of FB, the social media network’s privacy policy says.
Facebook also warns that if a person repeatedly infringes another person’s rights, he or she may be at risk of losing their account.Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (SLCERT), the state body for cyber security, said that it was helpless as FB policy was directly between the user and Facebook. “The user should directly request Facebook and based on the explanation given by FB it is possible to decide the reason for disabling the account. In some cases they restore the account.
An official said accounts were disabled when the terms were violated or the page was reported for its contents. Even if contents are written in local languages, FB has translators to detect the meaning of such content. It monitors the content before disabling. It is important to read the privacy statement before even opening an account,” he added.
Booze before ballot, not a lamp post spared
Even before nominations for the Uva Provincial Council elections have begun, some politicians are busy making preparations.
A politico, the nephew of the leader of a plantation sector party, paid an advance of Rs. 100,000 to a liquor store this week.
He said he wanted to buy molasses arrack (gal arakku) to that value for his supporters and assured the supplier that more orders would follow.
Not a lamp post in Uva towns has been spared by this politico who is in the fray. They are all plastered with posters containing his photograph. That is not all. Front page advertisements with his photograph also adorn Tamil newspapers.
Mayor’s date gone wrong before Temple Trees Ifthar
Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil confirmed an invitation from President Mahinda Rajapaksa for Ifthar (or breaking fast) on July 17. He was waiting for the time to arrive to be driven there. His phone rang in the afternoon that day. The caller from Temple Trees said that Mr. Muzammil was also required for a meeting on the same date at 5 p.m., just ahead of the Ifthar ceremony. The Mayor said he had been invited only for the sunset event and to check back. The caller said he had checked and it was confirmed that Mr. Muzammil was required at the conference.
So the UNP mayor, in coat and tie, went to Temple Trees. Security personnel there did not frisk him because he was a known figure. Soon he found himself in the midst of state media personnel summoned to discuss coverage of the Uva Provincial Council elections.National Freedom Front’s Mohamed Muzammil and UPFA’s A.H.M. Azwer stared at the Colombo Mayor. Their looks showed they were surprised and wondered what he was doing at that event.
Just then, a presidential aide walked up to Mayor Muzammil and apologised. He said the invitation to him was a mistake. At the Ifthar, he related the story to President Rajapaksa. The President asked him who gave him the call. The Mayor replied that it was someone at the President’s Media Unit.
“Unta pissu (they are mad),” retorted Rajapaksa.
New laws for hi-tech NICs
A Cabinet Sub Committee will study a proposal by the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development on the issue of Identity Cards with biometric data to Sri Lankans. The Sub Committee on Legislation is headed by Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha.
A ministerial source said yesterday that the Committee would study how amendments would be made to the Registration of Persons Act No. 32 of 1968. Thereafter, the Legal Draftsman and the Attorney General would be consulted prior to the amendments being presented to Parliament, the sources said.
Probe on minister’s Indian phone connection
Intelligence sleuths have been called in to investigate how a Cabinet Minister of a coastal district acquired a mobile telephone serviced by an Indian service provider.
He had been using this phone with international roaming facilities to make overseas calls.
Insiders say he had made many calls to West Asian countries during the violent incidents in Aluthgama, Beruwala and Dharga Town.
Text book chief not aware of what his minister is doing
Educational Publications Commissioner General Tissa Hewavithana (Educational Publications Department) has responded to our last week’s report headlined “Text books: Education Minister skips 2015 tender chapter.” Claiming that the Sunday Times report is “incorrect information,” he says, “I would like to emphasise the fact that no textbook is given to be printed to any private printer exempting the above tender procedure” — a matter which was never referred to in the report.
He adds: “Following the compilation of textbooks according to the new syllabus which is to be implemented from 2015, they are handed over to both state owned and private printing presses to be printed in due time. In this, orders are made exempting the tender procedure only to Government Press and the State Printing Corporation which are the two state owned institutions. The approval of this measure has been obtained by request from the Cabinet decision dated 05/06/2014 bearing the number 14/0609/530/021. This is a regular annual process implemented and it is aimed to ensure full printing capacity usage of these state owned enterprises.
“All textbooks cannot be printed in the government institutions and therefore, the remaining textbooks are given to private printers to get them printed on time.
“Textbooks are given to private printers by a tender board appointed by the Cabinet after analysing the printing capacity, financial stability, available human resource and the performance of each of the printers during the last few years. Recommendations were submitted by a Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) following a review of the above criteria. These recommendations are subjected to the scrutiny of the Cabinet Tender Board and approval is thus given for printing of the text books. The Cabinet decision of 18th July 2014 bearing the number COM/14/0866/530/021 has granted the approval to give the printing orders to the private printers.
“When observing the article published in your newspaper on 20th July a wrong impression could be created among the public regarding the Educational Publications Department and the procedure followed in printing the textbooks.” Jamis Banda adds: Mr. Hewavithana has dealt with a lot of issues which were not in our story and therefore totally irrelevant. He could have saved all the trouble if he asked his own Minister — Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena. Evidently he is unaware of what is going on.
Here is the title of the memorandum forwarded by Minister Gunawardena to his colleagues: OBTAINING APPROVAL FROM THE CABINET OF MINISTERS TO PRINT SCHOOL TEXT BOOKS TO BE ISSUED FREE OF CHARGE FOR THE YEAR 2015 OUTSIDE THE OPEN PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
For his information, the decision after a lengthy discussion was, to grant approval to print the books outside the “open procurement process.” It was also decided that the “selection of printers for printing of school text books for the year 2016 and thereafter should be through open competitive bidding process where the public sector institutions could also participate, if they are so interested.” It seems a case of the right hand not knowing what the left does.