Election misinformation poses a credible threat to Sri Lanka’s democracy. While it is expected that any electorate hardly operates with perfect information, our research finds that the presence of an election misinformation industry in Sri Lanka producing and disseminating viral false assertions has the potential to distort constituents’ information diets and sway their electoral choices. That many citizens are ill-equipped to manage the oftentimes cognitively burdensome task of determining the veracity of political information in an information-heavy environment exacerbates this issue. This, in turn, may jeopardize social cohesion and undermine what is otherwise, generally, a robust electoral process. In 2023, LIRNEasia led an IDRC-funded project to 1) understand election influence operations and measures to counter disinformation globally, especially pertaining to Asia; 2) map actors who are involved in election related counter-disinformation actions in five countries in South and Southeast Asia, and 3) document their past and upcoming activities related to countering disinformation around elections.
A powerful weapon in a time of global democratic backsliding, election misinformation may undermine democracy via a range of mechanisms. Election misinformation may influence an electorate to cast their ballots for candidates they otherwise might not have on the basis of incorrect information about a country’s economy, the candidates, or some other phenomenon. Other false narratives may cast doubt on the credibility of the electoral process, potentially reducing future voter participation and confidence in democracy and its leaders as a whole – both among those who buy into election misinformation as well as those who are cognizant of the prevalence of the phenomenon and its hold over certain voters. Additionally, that election misinformation often leverages existing social cleavages (across party lines, race, religion etc.) makes consensus-building and compromise that are at the heart of democratic governance, that much harder.
In 2023, LIRNEasia led an International Development Research Centre and Data4Development Network-funded project to 1) understand election influence operations and measures to counter disinformation globally, especially pertaining to Asia; 2) map actors who are involved in election related counter-disinformation actions in five countries in South and Southeast Asia, and 3) document their past and upcoming activities related to countering disinformation around elections. This research was intended to lay the groundwork for a network of actors, enabling them to systematically work towards countering disinformation related to elections and document the impact of their actions. This report is the output of that project, and consists of a literature review of election misinformation and four country reports (India, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Sri Lanka) that explore the scope of election misinformation, legal and institutional safeguards, and case study of a counter-election misinformation initiative, in each country. Election Misinformation in South and South-East Asia: The phenomenon and measures to counter it
LIRNEasia held an event titled Social Safety Nets and the State of Poverty in Sri Lanka on Wednesday 7 June 2023 in Colombo. This event involved a presentation of the findings of a recent nationally representative survey of 10,000 Sri Lankan households conducted by LIRNEasia, followed by a panel discussion, with representation of stakeholders from government, multi-lateral donor organizations, and civil society.