by Charani LCM Patabendige
Published on 8th International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura - IRCHSS 2023 on 19th March 2023.
Introduction
‘Disinformation’, is defined as the information, which is created to deceive, lie or support, either an individual’s or a social or political group’s agenda. At present, Sri Lanka is facing disinformation on a higher scale. May it be a tweet, Instagram or Facebook post, the impact is tremendous and its damage can be irremediable. Repercussions of disinformation have been seen in Sri Lanka, as those formulated and spread by LTTE and its international network as well as by extremists in every religion. Due to disinformation, countries have passed a plethora of legislatures including Canada’s Tamil Genocide Education Week Act. Furthermore, this was seen in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday Attack in 2019. Disinformation creates social division by disrupting harmony, creates unnecessary fear among people, results in ethnic division and radicalizes the community leading to separatism. Due to such reasons, disinformation which is a menace to national security needs to be mitigated and prevented.
Research Problem/s, Objective/s
Research problem- To identify and explore the need to annihilate disinformation, the national security menace.
Research objectives
Research questions
Materials and Methods
Research has utilized a qualitative perspective. It has used both primary as well as secondary sources. Secondary sources such as books, journal articles, proceedings and reports were used. Information from an online survey consisting of fifty random individuals were collected.
Results and Discussion
Social media is the biggest platform where disinformation ensues. Since the world can be accessed at our fingertips, the dissemination of disinformation is done without any impediment. There are diverse reasons why terrorists and extremists resort to social media. It is efficient, reaches a wide audience, it is simple, affordable and manipulative. When disinformation becomes ‘viral’, youth embrace it. Accordingly, disinformation sets a precedent. For instance, despite the Sri Lankan government defeating the military attempts of the LTTE, the LTTE international network is accusing Sri Lanka of the offence of ‘genocide’.
Thus, it is important to recognize disinformation at its initial stages. For example, to find extremist or terrorist content on the Twitter platform is simply a matter of using hashtags. Social media uses community standards to recognize terrorist-related content. In view of that, if the content is extremist or terrorist-related, social media takes down the respective content on their own or if reported. Therefore, ascertaining the identity of the perpetrators who share extremist content is not impossible, but it is strenuous. Anti-terror laws are not a novel phenomenon in the world. As per Dr Agnes Callamard, the “aftermath of 9/11 saw the adoption of anti-terrorism laws and policies throughout the world, many of which resulted in restrictions to freedom of expression. In 2015, the rise of Daesh, responsible for terrorist attacks in Iraq, Syria, France, Turkey and Tunisia to mention a few, has led governments to adopt additional measures, including the promulgation of a state of emergency, and new anti-terrorism and surveillance laws.” Sri Lanka too has an array of laws including, the Sri Lankan Constitution 1978, Public Security Ordinance, Police Ordinance and Prevention of Terrorism Act together with its regulations.
The Sri Lankan Constitution 1978, in Article 14(1) (a) states that “Every citizen is entitled to the freedom of speech and expression, including publication”. However, these rights are not absolute. Article 15(7) of the Constitution restricts the rights enumerated in Article 14 (1) (a) in light of national security. The precedence given to national security was also seen in the international context as well. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) mentions the right to privacy. Article 8(1) mentions the right to respect for private and family life, his home and his correspondence. Nonetheless, 8(2) restricts the enjoyment of 8(1) in terms of national security. According to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), some human rights, defined under article 4 of the ICCPR can never be suspended, including during a state of emergency. Even so, freedom of expression may be restricted under the conditions defined by Article 19(3). During the online survey, it was identified that majority of the respondents use social media and admit it as a platform of falsehoods. Majority were ignorant on what is disinformation. Majority knew that falsehoods are circulated yet their knowledge was limited to false news relating to politics. Respondents were unaware of disinformation campaigns by LTTE and its international networks. Respondents agreed that the government monitor social media. Furthermore, respondents admitted that journalists violate rights of people when reporting news or commenting.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Banning terrorist content is obligatory. It is vital to create awareness of the gravity of disinformation, the reasons behind it, the need to dissuade its ramifications and the penalties of the crime. Therefore, threat patterns should be gauged by espousing a prospective study. It is pivotal to implement the laws as they are. Last but not least, it important to strike a balance between national security and freedom of expression.
Keywords: Disinformation, Freedom of Expression, National Security, Social Media, Sri Lanka’s Post-War Allegations
References
• Atalayar. (2022). Disinformation and national security. [online]. https://atalayar.com/en/blog/disinformation-and-national-security
• Cbsnews.com. (2022). Tackling disinformation is a national security issue says former NSA general counsel. [online] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tackling-disinformation-is-national-security-issue- says-former-nsa-general-counsel/
• Vasu, N., Ang, B., Teo, T., Jayakumar, S., Rahman, A.M. & Ahuja, J., (n.d.). Fake News: National Security in the Post-Truth Era. Global Resilience Institute. [online] Global Resilience Institute.
*Ms. Charani Patabendige is a Research Assistant and Acting Research Analyst at the Institute of National Security Studies, the premier think tank for the Ministry of Defence Sri Lanka. She is presently reading for MPhil/ PhD in Law. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree with a second-class and an Advanced Diploma in Transitional Justice from Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies with a Distinction Pass. Currently, she is reading for the final year of the Attorney at Law examination. She has represented in many international and national conferences and published many journal articles. She is also an Honorary Associate Research Fellow of the Institute. Her research interests are counter-terrorism, religious extremism, drug menace, human rights and national security.