The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) in collaboration with Mythos Labs and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) of Canadian High Commission to Sri Lanka and Maldives organized the “Countering Disinformation” training program for journalists and media professionals on 18 October in Sinhala and Tamil languages in the Colombo District. About 60 media professionals and journalists participated in this program which was held at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel.

The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Valerie Ouellette, Second Secretary (Political) of the Canadian High Commission, Sri Lanka Press Institute CEO Kumar Lopez, Mythos Labs Founder and CEO Priyank Mathur and Mythos Lab Program Manager Faaiza Seyid.

The specifics of the spread of disinformation and misinformation in Sri Lanka’s media landscape and its impact, identifying and responding to false information, reporting on false information and strengthening cyber security measures in the face of rapidly increasing false information were some of the topics that were discussed in this training program which were also supplemented through practical activities. SLPI FactSeeker Head and Media Trainer Kasun Kumarage and Vidivelli Newspaper Editor and Media Trainer Mohamed Fairooz contributed as resource persons to the training programs conducted in Sinhala and Tamil languages, respectively.

In a context where false information is both widespread and topical, the two training programs were of great interest to many journalists and media professionals. Veteran journalists enriched the content of the training program by sharing their professional experiences and the program was concluded successfully through meaningful interaction amongst the participants. The training program set a precedent for the Global Media and Information Literacy Week which is observed from 24 to 31 October and the enthusiasm and engagement of media practitioners during this training program was commendable.