July 04, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella has said that the government had taken measures to totally ban all the websites that sling mud at the government.

Rambukwella has told a local newspaper The Divaina today that the government's decision will come into effect within the next few days.

The Minister has further said that the Ministry of Information and Media has received a large number of complaints that these gossip websites sling mud at the images of the politicians and other celebrities.

He said that these websites are being operated from foreign countries without registering them with the Ministry.

According to the Minister, steps have been taken to block those web sites although the locations from where they are maintained are not known yet.

The United States, the UN and European Union raised concerns over media freedom in Sri Lanka after police shut down the opposition websites Sri Lanka Mirror and Sri Lanka X News last Friday.