As part of a project supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, LIRNEasia conducted two major studies on information disorder among Sinhala and Tamil  news consumers in Sri Lanka: a nationally representative survey examining the human factors shaping information disorder and an experimental study assessing the effectiveness of misinformation-countering measures. Drawing on these findings, LIRNEasia convened a Solution Development Workshop on 11 November 2025 in Colombo to translate evidence into practical interventions.

The workshop brought together researchers, civil society organisations, media practitioners, educators, technology experts, and other stakeholders working on information integrity. The workshop was facilitated by Benislos Thushan (Attorney-at-Law and Development Practitioner) and Darshatha Gamage (Co-Founder and Director, IMPACT VOICES).

The workshop was designed as a knowledge translation exercise, enabling participants to collaboratively develop solutions informed by the project’s mixed-methods evidence. Rather than beginning with predefined interventions, participants used the research findings as the foundation for identifying key challenges, prioritising target audiences, and designing contextually appropriate responses.

Participants worked in multidisciplinary groups to develop intervention concepts that addressed different aspects of the misinformation ecosystem. Four complementary solution models emerged from the workshop. The first proposed an AI-assisted misinformation detection tool integrated with media literacy resources, supported by government agencies, educational institutions, and civil society organisations. Participants emphasised the importance of transparency, user trust, continuous updating, and safeguards against misuse. The second proposed a community-based early warning and capacity-building model, where Grama Niladharis, religious leaders, teachers, police officers, and community representatives would be trained to identify emerging harmful narratives and respond before misinformation escalates into wider social harm. The third proposed a platform-focused intervention, beginning with a pilot study of platform use and regional information dynamics, followed by training-of-trainers programmes and dissemination boot camps tailored to different social media environments. The fourth proposed a Local Ambassador Programme, in which trained community ambassadors would strengthen local fact-checking capacity, submit regular reports on emerging narratives, and establish stronger links between local information ecosystems and national media organisations.

Across the four groups, several common themes emerged that closely aligned with the project’s research findings. Participants agreed that community trust is central to countering misinformation, reinforcing the research finding that trusted interpersonal networks often outweigh institutional sources in shaping information acceptance. They also recognised that interventions should move beyond generic awareness campaigns by incorporating practical examples, interactive learning, locally relevant case studies, and continuous engagement. Participants repeatedly stressed that interventions should be adapted to local linguistic, cultural, and demographic contexts, recognising that a universal approach would be ineffective across Sri Lanka’s diverse communities.  

The discussions also highlighted important implementation considerations. Sustainable funding, political sensitivities, community acceptance, technological capacity, and the risk of reinforcing existing biases were identified as major challenges. Participants recommended adopting phased implementation approaches, strengthening partnerships with government agencies, educational institutions, technology companies, and civil society organisations, and establishing robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess behavioural change and intervention effectiveness over time.  

Overall, the Solution Development Workshop demonstrated the value of combining empirical research with participatory solution design. Rather than producing a single intervention, the workshop generated a portfolio of complementary approaches spanning technological, educational, and community-based responses. Importantly, the proposed solutions reflected one of the central conclusions of the research programme—that effective responses to information disorder must address not only digital content but also the social relationships, trust networks, behavioural patterns, and local contexts through which misinformation is created, shared, and interpreted. The workshop therefore served as an important bridge between research and practice, providing evidence-informed directions for future programming, policy development, and investment in information integrity initiatives.