“We Had To Stop Facebook”: When Anti-Muslim Violence Goes Viral
Extremists in Sri Lanka used Facebook to organize deadly violence against Muslims. Facebook is accused of not doing enough to prevent it.
DIGANA, Sri Lanka — When the Sri Lankan government temporarily blocked access to Facebook last month amid a wave of violence against Muslims, it seemed like a radical move against new technology.
But in fact, government officials saw it as a last resort. It came after Facebook ignored years of calls from both the government and civil society groups to control ethno-nationalist accounts that spread hate speech and incited violence before deadly anti-Muslim riots broke out this year, BuzzFeed News has found.
