The statement claims a cyber attack against the Facebook pages of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, former minister Wimal Weerawansa and Gammanpila himself.

It says Gammanpila’s FB followers dropped by 1,200 during a two hour duration last week.

The FB pages of Rajapaksa and Weerawansa too, have dropped by 15,800 and 4,100 followers.

PHU says that according to FB admistrators, a group opposing their popularity is behind this.

Gammanpila has said it was an internet BOT attack.

However, experts say that drops in likes is a result of Facebook recently taking measures to remove likes that come from deactivated and memorialized accounts.

The change is meant to "make audience data even more meaningful for business" and "ensure that data on Facebook is consistent and up to date," the company had written in a blog post.

Purging likes from closed accounts will give businesses more accurate insights on followers, Facebook said. Doing so draws a distinction between accounts that have merely liked the page and people who actively follow it.