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Monday, May 13, 2019, 10:34
Sri Lanka blocks some social media platforms after violence
By ​Reuters
Monday, May 13, 2019, 10:34 By ​Reuters

A Sri Lankan Army soldier stands guard outside the St. Theresa's church as the Catholic churches hold services again after the Easter attacks in Colombo on May 12, 2019. Thousands of Catholics attended mass in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on May 12 amid tight security to prevent a repeat of Easter bomb attacks that killed 258 people. (LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government said on Monday it was temporarily blocking some social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, after violent incidents in the wake of Easter bombings by Islamist militants. 

Several dozen people threw stones at mosques and Muslim-owned stores and a man was beaten in the town of Chilaw on the west coast on Sunday in a dispute that started on Facebook, sources told Reuters. Sri Lankan media also reported incidents in several nearby areas overnight.  

ALSO READ: Empty classrooms: Sri Lanka schools re-open amid fears of more militant attacks

Authorities said they arrested the author of a Facebook post, identified as 38-year-old Abdul Hameed Mohamed Hasmar, whose online comment "1 day u will cry" people said was interpreted as threatening violence. 

Facebook and Whatsapp have been blocked. On Twitter, Sri Lanka's leading mobile phone operator Dialog said it had also received instructions to block the apps Viber, IMO, Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube until further notice

Later on Sunday and early on Monday authorities arrested a group of men in the nearby Kurunegala district for allegedly attacking Muslim-owned businesses, a police source told Reuters. 

Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu said people in the mostly Buddhist district then demanded the arrested men's release. 

"To control the situation, a police curfew was imposed during the night," Atapattu said. 

Several mosques and Muslim homes were damaged in the attack in the district, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka said, but the precise extent of damage and the number of arrests was not immediately clear. 

The flare-up is the worst violence in the three weeks since Sri Lankan Islamist bombers blew themselves up in four hotels and three churches, killing more than 250 people. 

Since then, Muslim groups say they have received dozens of complaints about people being harassed. Other communities say they fear the government, which failed to act on successive warnings about looming Islamist attacks, has not caught all potential militants. 

Sri Lanka has used temporary bans on social media in a bid to deter misinformation and rumours

"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 on Monday. 

On Twitter, Sri Lanka's leading mobile phone operator Dialog said it had also received instructions to block the apps Viber, IMO, Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube until further notice. 

READ MORE: President says Sri Lanka now safe for tourists

A violent clash between Muslims and Christians erupted a week ago in Negombo, killing more than 100 people during Easter prayers, after a traffic dispute. 

The government also imposed a ban on social media after that clash. 



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