No action for spreading religious hatred on Facebook

25 November 2012 07:52 am

The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (SLCERT) said that no concrete action could be taken against those who spread religious and racial hatred on Facebook despite efforts being taken to liaise with Facebook and curb posts conveying religious and racial hatred.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror spokesman for SLCERT Roshan Chandraguptha said that Facebook terms of use have prevented Lankan authorities from taking any action regarding this issue.

Declining media reports which suuggested that action is to be taken, Chandraguptha said that no such action could be taken under prevailing laws.

“We have liaised with the Facebook USA and brought this issue to their notice.However, they have intimated to us that their terms of use protects freedom of speech and due to this we have been prevented from taking any proper action,” he said.

SLCERT is the Centre for Cyber security in Sri Lanka, mandated to protect the nation's information infrastructure.

Police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said that all matters with regard to complaints of Facebook have been directed to the computer unit of the Police.

“The unit has been specially set up to look into these matters” he said.

Meanwhile a source at the “Tell the IGP” unit which handles these complaints said that they have received complaints regarding spreading of religious hatred and they are investigating the incidents.

Chandraguptha went on to state that SLCERT is yet to commence talks with regard to the issue with the Justice Ministry.

Many Facebook groups, posts and memes operated by Sri Lankans continue to spread religious hatred and extremism, going so far as to call for the expulsion of certain religious groups from the country.

Many observers believe that this is a disturbing trend especially among the youth of the country who are now moving towards religious chauvinism and spreading the message across a variety of social media of which Facebook is the pivotal point of communication.

Chandraguptha went on to state that SLCERT has received close to 750 complaints from users during the year.

The complaints have been mainly made on grounds of fake profiles been created, password hacking and posting of photographs. (Hafeel Farisz & Sanath Desmond)