Sri Lanka’s approach in managing COVID-19 online

By Archana Atmakuri and Dr. Chulanee Attanayake

As Sri Lanka is fighting the coronavirus pandemic along with the rest of the world since late January, it is simultaneously fighting an online battle. Globally, countries are finding creative ways to keep citizens informed and fight fake news. 

On 16 March, two people were arrested in Sri Lanka for spreading fake news about COVID-19. Ever since, the Police has launched an investigation to arrest over 50 suspects for spreading false news. Fighting the spread of misinformation about the pandemic is not only confined to Sri Lanka but entire world is fighting the same battle, yet some do it better. 

Since the first case of locally transmitted patient was reported on 10 March, the number of cases increased significantly, leading to rising panic among the public. Rightly so, as Sri Lanka has reported 146 of positive cases as of 1 April. 

The Government took steps to limit public gatherings enforce social distancing including declaring a three-day public holiday starting 16 March and later enforcing island-wide curfew. The officials went a step ahead and punished those who were not abiding to the law both online and offline. 

While these tangible steps are important in this battle against a global pandemic, it is equally important for governments to act swiftly to keep the citizens updated and to curb misinformation as it can fuel panic. 

Keeping citizens informed

There are no set-in-stone practices, but one can only learn through the best practice adopted by countries through experiments. In this regard, Sri Lanka has taken certain steps in using digital platforms to keep citizens informed. 

For instance, the Health Promotion Bureau (HPB), associated with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health provides updated information, statistics, guidelines and necessary contact information regarding COVID-19. Its official Facebook uses infographics interactively to engage with the public providing required information on the number of cases, informing citizens about the curfew and educating citizens about the benefits of adhering to stay at home orders. It also uses trilingual informative videos to educate and advise the public on best practices, better managing mental health during this challenging period.  

Additionally, the Epidemiology Unit, which is part of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, has been updating the number of positive cases. It also has circulars and directives to be accessed by the public. It has guidelines related to COVID-19 for various sectors, notices from the Police and other related videos. 

However, the issue with having two websites for the same purpose is that sometimes the information provided is overlapped. At one point, it was observed that the two parallel websites reporting different number of cases. This may cause confusion for the citizens and dispute the credibility of the information. Situations as this underscores the importance of having a single channel to disseminate information. 

Utilising digital platforms to disseminate information

Starting with having active Facebook pages, and credible websites to update on numbers Sri Lanka has taken some important steps to utilise digital platforms to disseminate information. 

For instance, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is using his official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to inform the public on the latest updates on the situation frequently. The Prime Minister is also active on Twitter and constantly provide updates on the situation and related Government decisions. 

Recently, the Government has taken an important step to launch a Viber community chat group to disseminate the latest news and information about the pandemic. This has been initiated in many other countries across the world. 

For instance, Singapore has taken this step first by initiating a Government-run WhatsApp group is one of the most important and active channels of communication to provide all kinds of updates – from the number of positive cases, discharged cases, debunking misinformation and measures to be safe during the pandemic. 

Since WhatsApp is one of the most common used messengers, one must certainly make use of it specially to disseminate information. Having a one-stop platform to keep citizens informed is efficient in more than one way. 

Fighting misinformation

Besides keeping citizens informed and updated, countries globally are fighting the issue of misinformation, particularly in a situation of a pandemic. 

The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry announced to take legal action against those spreading rumours and posting false, misleading information via social media platforms and other digital media sites. 

They have already acted on a false report circulating on social media about the report of the sons of 52-year-old tour guide may have been infected led to a public uproar and thereby caused panic resulting in the Government’s decision to close the schools. So, then it is absolutely necessary to curb fake news as it leads to panic among people thereby leading to take drastic measures by the Government. 

While the initiatives to utilise digital platforms to communicate with the citizens and publicise information to maximise its reach is admirable, the same can be used to fight the fake news and misinformation. It is a common issue globally that a government has to fight a parallel online battle against rumours and misinformation at a time of crisis.

Debunking misinformation

One of the effective ways to deal with this is to tie-up or work closely with fact-checkers like Watchdog Sri Lanka to debunk misinformation. This could help Government expedite the action on fake news. Aside from that, debunked news can also be circulated in the one-stop messenger channels such as WhatsApp. 

In the case of Singapore, a WhatsApp message was circulating warning citizens to avoid certain places that suspected cases had visited. But the group verified WhatsApp group Gov.sg identified the message to be false. It was also stated on Facebook that ‘there is no need to avoid places where suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been’ and that ‘the risk of infection from transient contact, such as in public spaces, is low’. The information about fake news and the truth have been shared regularly on the Government-run WhatsApp group. 

Likewise, India has initiated a Government-run WhatsApp group for the latest updates on coronavirus in India, general information about COVID-19, measures to contain the spread, professional advice from AIIMS and information about where to get help. For a country like India, given its massive size and population, this step is commendable. India also takes the lead that it can be done irrespective of the size of the country. 

Similarly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently initiated a verified WhatsApp chat to update on deaths and cases across six regions. The group has a provision to give updates on travel advice, debunking myths, protective measures and latest news. 

Way forward for Sri Lanka

For Sri Lanka, fighting a global pandemic online is a new experience. However, it has experienced the repercussions of the spread of fake news before, particularly during the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019. 

Hence, the Government must establish mechanisms to curb spread of fake news and attempt to tie up with fact-checkers to debunk the same through Government verified messenger platforms like Viber to regularly educate citizens. Establishing such infrastructure may help in fighting online battles beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. 

[Archana Atmakuri is a Research Analyst at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), an autonomous research institute of National University of Singapore. She works on Digital politics and India’s foreign policy. Dr. Chulanee Attanayake is a Visiting Research Fellow at the same institute. Her research areas include Sri Lanka’s domestic politics and foreign relations, and China’s statecraft in South Asia.]