Social media again blocked amid communal strife

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Government authorities have imposed a nationwide curfew and temporarily blocked social media and messaging apps following a flare-up of communal violence in apparent response to last month’s Easter attacks that killed more than 250 people.

Police said the curfew would be enforced until further notice in the country’s North Western region, and until Tuesday morning in the rest of the nation.

Tensions have been running high in the Buddhist-majority island nation since the attacks by seven suicide bombers who struck two Catholic and one Protestant church and three luxury hotels. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, carried out by a local radicalized Muslim group.

The government imposed the social media ban after an exchange of accusations on Facebook led to a mob attack on a Muslim-owned shop Sunday in the Catholic-majority town of Chilaw, said Nalaka Kaluwewa, chief of the Information Department.

Kaluwewa said the government took the step “to prevent misinformation from being circulated and also to prevent spreading of information that would harm communal harmony.”

Previous blocks on social media and messaging apps imposed following the April 21 suicide attacks were lifted after several days. Since then, the government has intensified security across the country.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said police have arrested a Muslim businessman, Abdul Hameed Mohamed Hasmar, for allegedly writing the Facebook comments that sparked the violence. Local media reported that residents in the area angered by the comments stoned Hasmar’s shop.