law, Buddhist clergy joined other religious institutional leaders,187 such as Venerable Bellanwila Wimalarathana Thero and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjithin, in an all-male meeting to express their opposition to abortion.188 THE 2018 ANTI-MUSLIM RIOTS IN SRI LANKA WERE FUELED BY BBS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SPREAD ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC AND MISINFORMATION. ONE SOCIAL MEDIA POST DECLARED, “KILL ALL MUSLIMS, DON’T EVEN SAVE AN INFANT.” Among these far-right factions is the aforementioned BBS, which is an ultranationalist Sinhalese Buddhist organization. The 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka were fueled by BBS using social media to spread antiMuslim rhetoric and misinformation. One social media post declared, “Kill all Muslims, don’t even save an infant.” Another extremist urged his followers to descend on the city of Kandy to “reap without leaving an iota behind.”189 As a result of this, Buddhist militants in Ampara attacked a mosque and Muslim-owned shops over social media disinformation about Muslims adding sterilizing pills to food. These riots resulted in a series of violent attacks on Muslims, their places of worship, businesses and homes, exacerbating ethnic and religious violence.190 A probe commissioned by Facebook revealed that anti-Muslim content on the platform in Sri Lanka has contributed to violence against Muslims (Facebook subsequently acknowledged and apologized for the human rights impacts, stating their platform was misused). The report noted Facebook’s “limited resources” to monitor Sinhala content, despite having 4.4 million daily users in Sri Lanka.191 In 2022, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed militant Buddhist monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, head of BBS, to lead a presidential task force on legal reforms. This move shocked many due to Gnanasara’s 187 UCANews. Sri Lankan Bishops Condemn Govt’s Decision to Legalize Abortion. UCANews, 23 July 2017, https:// www.ucanews.com/news/sri-lankan-bishops-condemn-govts-decision-to-legalize-abortion/80148 188 Union of Catholic Asian News. (2017). Buddhist, Muslim and Christian leaders oppose abortion. Union of Catholic Asian News. https://www.ucanews.com/news/buddhist-muslim-and-christian-leaders-oppose-abortion/80326#google_vignette 189 Taub, A., & Fisher, M. (2018). Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match. The New York Times, 2 April. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/world/asia/facebook-sri-lanka-riots.html 190 Ibid. 191 Al Jazeera. (2020). Sri Lanka: Facebook apologises for role in 2018 anti-Muslim riots. Al Jazeera. https://www. aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/13/sri-lanka-facebook-apologises-for-role-in-2018-anti-muslim-riots 54