Emergency regulations also affect political rallies There were reports from Sri Lanka that a local cable company also stopped broadcasting BBC World television due to the new regulations. The chief censor, Ariya Rubasinghe, was also quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that broadcasters needed permission to transmit any material out of the country. Local journalists have been submitting their copy to the censor for several months but it is only in recent days that foreign journalists in Colombo have also been included. They have been told that they can report certain claims by the rebel Tamil Tigers but must balance this with the government's version of events. However any criticism of the government is forbidden.
Some journalists say they believe the authorities are monitoring their telephone calls.
Restrictions on foreign journalists are increasing The news bulletins resume as soon as the report on Sri Lanka has finished. Correspondents said the measure was a voluntary step by independent television stations, which feared being closed down by the government if they step out of line. They say that the in-house censors sometimes block reports from places such as Srinagar and Colombia, after mistaking them for Sri Lanka and its capital, Colombo. In the past government ministers have admitted that in the era of the internet such censorship is impossible to enforce. BBC Sinhala and Tamil broadcasts are available on the internet, and also on shortwave radio.