Fake News

By Rehab Mahamoor/August 07, 2019. Sri Lanka is no stranger to arbitrary laws that are prone to misuse. For the past 40 years, it has had the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act on the statute books, which has been used to target minorities and is one of the main drivers of human rights violations – including the suppression […]

Image: Dr. Seigu Siyabdeen Mohammed Shafi . By The Sunday Morning News Desk. Severe shortcomings and irregularities including the submission of fabricated and falsified facts by high-level Police officials in relation to the case filed against Dr. Seigu Siyabdeen Mohammed Shafi attached to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, have been unearthed by the Police Criminal Investigation Department […]

In a letter to the Minister of Justice and Prison Reforms, the Free Media Movement has expressed its concern that the given current context the proposed legal amendments related to false news distribution and hate speech could seriously threaten the freedom of expression and media freedom in the country. T The letter follows: June 17, […]

Social media has revolutionized society. With creative and improved means of communication, live updates become freely accessible, news is as close to you as the play button on your screen, images and messages circulate between millions of people around the world within seconds, and as a result people are now more instantly up to date, […]

Cabinet approval has been granted to amend the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code to take action against false news distribution, extremist statements and any statement that could be harmful to the national security. The government Information Dept web site English gives a sumarised version of the related cabinet decision on 04.06.2019. 15, Revision […]

In the wake of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks, we have one (Muslim) Minister confessing to calling the Army Commander to ‘inquire into’ the fate of a Muslim suspect arrested following the Easter Sunday attacks and another (Sinhala) Minister being so bold as to transport Sinhalese rioters attacking Muslim shops in Kurunegala from one police […]

Image: The Island  report  according to Minster Samaraweera is a complete lie. 28 Sep 2018. Minister says CID never made submissions in court that plot had been established through Indian national or any other means. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has not made any statement to establish or corroborate the allegations of a plot to […]

Image: It was state controlled Sinhala daily that carried the news. President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday directed Inspector General of Police Pujitha Jayasundara to conduct an investigation to find out as to who was behind the story published in two Sinhala newspapers today which said that the government was concerned about a threat to national security. […]

Image: “Army” of Zuckerberg cutouts fills Capitol lawn ahead of hearing (tweeter photo) April 10th 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is issuing an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as he prepares to testify before Congress on April 10. In this letter, CPA together with other members of civil society call […]

Two related developments indicating a need to control the media show that the trust factor in the government is vitiated. It was an irony that did not generate mirth but fear. The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Smriti Irani, who took up the task of confronting “fake news” through an ill-conceived notification, herself believed false […]

The government is discussing setting up an institution to monitor social media usage, Minister of Digital Infrastructure Technology Harin Fernando said yesterday. He said this measure would be aimed at preventing posts which provoke hate against any community or religion. “The government will not block social media such as Facebook but there will be strict […]

Geneva/Vienna (3 March 2017) – Leading monitors of freedom of expression around the world have come together to issue a Joint Declaration on freedom of expression, focusing this year on so-called fake news, disinformation and propaganda. The action was taken by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, along […]

Image:Cameron Harris in his home office in Annapolis, Md., on Monday. He created a fake story about an electrical worker who stumbled upon stacked boxes of ballots pre-marked for Hillary Clinton. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times. By SCOTT SHANEJAN. 18, 2017 ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It was early fall, and Donald J. Trump, […]