On Saturday, 24 May 2025, Muragala | Centre for Progressive Politics and Policy (CPPP) conducted a training workshop `in Colombo, bringing together 30 grassroots-level activists from across Sri Lanka. The training is part of the ongoing ‘Strengthening Resilience against Disinformation in Sri Lanka’ project, implemented by Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and Factum.
This full-day workshop aimed to build the capacity of community-based monitors to track and respond to online hate speech and disinformation, particularly in the context of Sri Lanka’s electoral landscape.
The workshop featured a range of interactive sessions covering Sri Lanka’s election laws, definitions and boundaries of online disinformation, hate speech, and electoral violations and a comparative look at community standards across major platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Expert speakers included Mr Jagath Liyanarachchi, a member of the Right to Information (RTI) Commission and Dr. Suranga Seneviratne, a Senior Lecturer in Security at the School of Computer Science, The University of Sydney.
Participants received practical training on safe digital monitoring practices, reporting protocols, and online tools. A mock monitoring exercise using anonymised real-world examples allowed attendees to apply their learning in a hands-on environment.
