On the 1st of July 2025, LIRNEasia in collaboration with the University of Jaffna held an event titled Launch of the information disorder research in Sri Lanka and a forum on building digital resilience. The event centered around the launch of results from a LIRNEasia study assessing the ability of Tamil news readers in Sri Lanka to classify information as true/false, and measuring the effectiveness of popular countermeasures to misinformation, such as fact-checking and media literacy programs.
The opening address was given by Prof. Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, talked about the digital revolution, the newer challenges arising due to the information disorder and the importance of information literacy as a counter measure.
Prof. Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, delivering the opening remarks
The chief guest at the event, the Hon. Governor of the Northern Province, Mr. Nagalingam Vethanayahan spoke next and pointed out that although the issue of misinformation has existed since ancient times, the digital era has significantly amplified its reach and impact, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood. He noted that the comprehensive study by LIRNEasia on this topic was groundbreaking.
Chief Guest Hon. Nagalingam Vethanayahan, Governor of the Northern Province, delivering remarks at the event.
LIRNEasia researchers Sachini Ranasinghe presented the findings from the survey, which is representative of all Tamil news readers in Sri Lanka. Pasdevan Nadaraja presented the findings of the experimental study, that exposed over 1500 users to five interventions – a digital literacy program operated by Sarvodaya Fusion, a video about misinformation developed by Verité Research, an interactive online game on identifying misinformation by Marga Institute, membership in a fact checking WhatsApp group operated by the Sri Lanka Press Institute, and exposure/reading fact checks on popular fact checking website FactCresendo, and equivalent control group received no intervention.
Sachini Ranasinghe, a researcher at LIRNEasia, presented the findings from the survey
Pasdevan Nadaraja, a researcher at LIRNEasia, presented the findings of the experimental study
The presentations were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Helani Galpaya (CEO, LIRNEasia) and featured Prof. S. Raguram (Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna), Saminathan Wimal (Senior Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and English, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna), Benislos Thushan (Attorney-at-Law and Development Practitioner), Thulasi Muttulingam (Freelance Journalist), Joy Jegarthan (Social Media Specialist, Hashtag Generation), and Isuru Samaratunga (Research Manager, LIRNEasia).
Panel discussion on information ecosystems: Tamil language narratives, challenges, and solutions
Some coverage of the event is available at the following links: Here, Here, Here, Here and Here
The results presented at this event are available below for reference.
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