Islamic bombers had killed at least 300 people in the Srilanka sparking fears of sectarian violence against the country’s minority Muslim population. A social media posting sparked anti-Muslim riots across several towns in the island nation and Srilanka, as a preventive measure has blocked some social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp.
Police said that Christian groups had thrown stones at mosques and Muslim-owned shops in the northwestern Christian-majority town of Chilaw on Sunday after a Facebook post by a shopkeeper provoked them.
On Twitter, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile carrier, Dialog Axiata confirmed that it had restricted the websites and apps according to a directive from Sri Lan’s telecom regulator. Netblocks, a non-profit organization that tracks internet outages, tweeted that this was the third time in weeks the country had banned social media in the wake of religious tension.
“Social media blocked again as a temporary measure to maintain peace in the country,” Nalaka Kaluwewa, director general of the government information department, told Reuters news agency on Monday.
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