As we engage more and more with social media platforms, there is a heightened need for responsible social media engagement. With greater engagement and increasing influence of platforms, the users’ ability to cause harm to others too has increased, says Senel Wanniarachchi, co-founder of # Hashtag Generation.
Joining the popular program ‘Standby with Lahiru’ via HariTV, Senel speaks about the need for cautious and responsible engagement and the need for information consumers to practice critical thinking and restraint.
The young digital activist and media literacy advocate speaks of the double-edged sword social media can be, and the need to be able to individually assess various claims that demand our attention. Senel also calls for discerning engagement that does not fuel the flames of hate or result in campaigns of disinformation targeting various groups of people.
Supported by UNDP Sri Lanka and the European Union and designed by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the four-part discussion series looks at the prevalence of online hate and mis/disinformation, their collective impact on the Sri Lankan society, conflict through a gender lens and how hate and dangerous speech continue to influence the people and media narratives alike.
