Community rules

• Stick to the story. Say what you know, how you know it, and cite a report where you can — comments that do help most.
• Write in English, සිංහල or தமிழ் — whichever you're most at home in.
• Disagree with the claim, not the person. Ask questions; answer them with sources.
• If you see something happening on the ground, say what you saw and when, and add a photo or report if you have one.

Many stories here are about arrests, charges and trials. Sri Lankan law protects fair trials, so:

• Don't say anyone is guilty or innocent of something a court hasn't decided. Being arrested, remanded or charged is not a conviction.
• Don't comment on the merits of a case that is before a court, or on what the outcome should be.
• Never name or identify victims, witnesses, informants or children.
• Don't make claims about a real person that you can't back with a report.

• Personal attacks, threats, harassment, or hate against any group, religion, ethnicity, caste or community.
• Personal information about anyone — phone numbers, addresses, ID numbers.
• Spam, advertising, or more than two links in a comment.
• Pretending to be someone else, or using several names or devices to push votes or reports.
• Anything unlawful, including copying whole articles from other outlets.

Comments appear as soon as you post them. No AI reads, screens or rewrites them. Instead, readers can report a comment with the flag next to it. Once 3 different readers have reported a comment, it is hidden until one of our editors looks at it and either restores it or removes it. Editors can also remove a comment that breaks these rules at any time.

If a comment is about you and you believe it is unlawful, report it on the page, or use the corrections form and we'll look at it directly.

You can edit or delete your own comments — from the device you wrote them on, or from any device if you were signed in. An edited comment says so. See the privacy notice for what we store when you comment.