In the week before Rajapaksa ordered the ban, Tamil Tiger rebels commenced their largest suicide operation by land, backed by air strikes. The country's officials have said the ban was ordered after five radio stations, supposedly owned by ABC, were suspended by the government, which accused them of airing a false broadcast on a Tamil Tiger attack on a village.

“The government has decided to withdraw the gazette,” Rajapaksa's media secretary Chandrapala Liyanage told Reuters. “It was because of the irresponsible reporting by ABC this came into effect, to take legal action against those incidents ... But now action has been taken over that incident under the normal laws, and in general the media is acting responsibly, so the president decided there is no need for this gazette.”

If the ban had been violated, the notification said the punishment for violators would be “rigorous imprisonment” for a maximum of five years, Reuters reported.