DHAKA: Sri Lanka will clamp down on Internet hate speech following deadly anti-Muslim riots said to have been fuelled by social media sites.

The military said Monday, reports The Straits Times.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has asked the law and order ministry to deal with racial and religious hatred being spread using Facebook and Twitter, military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya said.

‘There are some Facebook pages against Buddhism, but more pages against Islam,’ Wanigasooriya told media.

‘Some try to project every Muslim as a jihadist. It is wrong and it must stop.’

He said Rajapakse, the powerful younger brother of president Mahinda Rajapakse, had asked law enforcement authorities to work out a ‘practical way’ of dealing with online hate speech.

BDST: 2140  HRS, JUNE 30, 2014