Sri Lanka on Wednesday banned civil servants from expressing their opinions on social media after some of them condemned on such platforms the health problems of students caused by malnutrition, which is the result of a severe economic crisis that has gripped the country, AFP and Nikkei reported , according to Agerpres.

In a decree addressed to 1.5 million civil servants, the Ministry of Public Administration warned that the ban on communication with the press would also be extended to social networks.

“Expressing opinions on social networks by an official (…) will be considered an offense that entails disciplinary action,” the text of the order reads.

This came after teachers and representatives of the local health ministry announced that dozens of students had fainted in schools due to a lack of food.

Serious economic crisis in Sri Lanka

Since the end of 2021, the country of 22 million people has been rocked by an unprecedented economic crisis, marked by severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, and the lack of foreign currency needed to import some basic products.

Health Minister Kehelia Rambukwella dismissed reports of malnutrition among children, accusing officials of exaggerating “for political reasons”.

However, the latest World Food Program report states that six million Sri Lankans, nearly a third of the country’s population, are “food insecure and in need of humanitarian assistance.”

The shortage has also sparked large-scale demonstrations in the South Asian country.

The protests led to the fall of the government in the Asian country

At the height of the protest movement in July, thousands of demonstrators stormed the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, forcing him to seek refuge abroad, where he announced his resignation.

Shortly after his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe came to power, the army broke up a sit-in protest outside the presidency and arrested several hundred people, only to later ban demonstrations in the capital.

In September, Sri Lanka demanded a quick settlement of its creditors in order to receive a $2.9 billion IMF loan, but this was conditional on the approval of the country’s rescue plan to restructure its debt.

China is the main bilateral creditor, holding more than 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s external debt, and officials involved in the talks said earlier this month that a deal with Beijing was crucial.