Sri Lankan newspapers have published pictures of people police said had acted in locally produced pornographic films, part of a court-ordered crackdown and the latest sign of growing social conservatism.

Police have identified 83 people they say have acted in the films found on websites, and got a court order to have media outlets publish their pictures to help locate the suspects.

"This is illegal and we need them to be identified for investigations," police spokesman Priyashanth Jayakody said.

The move is part of a crackdown on pornography in the Indian Ocean nation of 21 million.

The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has already blocked about 100 pornography sites and police have been arresting people with porn on their mobile phones.

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority nation, which also has Hindus, Muslims and Christians, and traditional values and more liberal social norms have generally co-existed well during its modern history.

But there have been growing signs of conservatism. There is a movement within a faction of president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government to ban alcohol, which has been resisted by the tourist industry which stands to lose revenue as it is rebuilding after the end of a three-decade civil war.

In March, Sri Lanka refused a visa to the Senegalese-American R&B singer and rapper Akon to perform in Colombo after Buddhists protested over a video in which he appeared briefly showed scantily clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue.

Hundreds of people stormed the head office of Sri Lanka's largest private broadcaster, which was the media sponsor for the Akon concert, in the ensuing uproar.

- Reuters