Sri Lanka blocks Facebook, Instagram, Viber and WhatsApp as anti-Muslim riots flare up
Tensions between the island’s majority Buddhists and minority Muslims have worsened amid the rise of hardline Sinhalese Buddhist groups that accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert
Anti-Muslim rioting flared anew on Wednesday in the hills of central Sri Lanka despite a state of emergency, residents said, as the government ordered popular social media networks blocked to stop the violence from spreading.
The police also ordered a curfew across much of the region for a third straight day, trying to calm the situation.
An area resident, who spoke on condition fearing reprisal attacks, said two mosques and some Muslim-owned shops were attacked by Buddhist mobs in two towns in the central hills. The extent of the damage could not be verified.
Tensions between the island’s majority Buddhists and minority Muslims have worsened in recent years, amid the growth of hardline Sinhalese Buddhist groups that accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert and destroying sacred Buddhist sites.
An internet company official, meanwhile, said the government had ordered popular social media networks blocked in areas near the violence, and slowed dramatically across the rest of the country.