Social media blocked again in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka reimposed a ban on social media on Monday as religious tension flared up after an intimidating Facebook post triggered attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in the worst unrest since Easter Sunday bombings which killed nearly 260 people.

The blockade comes a day after Sri Lankan police imposed curfew in the country’s western coastal town of Chilaw where a mob attacked a mosque and some shops owned by Muslims in a dispute that started on a Facebook post by a Muslim shop owner.

The author of the Facebook post, identified as 38-year-old Abdul Hameed Mohamed Hasmar, wrote: “Don’t laugh more, 1 day u will cry”.