Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that while he did not believe that governments should control the media, the latter should however ensure ethical standards.

He said this while addressing a gathering at the felicitation of Kumar Nadesan who was conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya award, which is the highest recognition given to a non-Indian by the Government of India.

“Today, there is much talk about social media and its lack of ethics and professionalism. Media experts of the region are unanimous in their opinion that fake news and disinformation cause havoc in society. They say that it is the responsibility of the media to educate people on how to recognise false news stories. People should be curious and actively investigate what they read and hear. To verify the authenticity of news, they can use news sources that are accountable for their content and follow journalistic ethics and standards. They must also take care to verify the news before sharing news content with others on social media. The media, while providing information to the people, has a responsibility to educate them to identify and reject fake news. It is a part of the social responsibilities of the media.”