19 Nov 2025 | BY Buddhika Samaraweera
When Sri Lankans scroll through Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram during an election campaign, their feeds rarely show party manifestos or policy proposals. Instead, they are flooded with memes, politicians turned into caricatures, snippets of speeches edited into jokes, and short, sarcastic videos that mock parties in seconds.
They are funny, easy to share, and incredibly powerful. For most of Sri Lanka’s younger voters who don’t watch political debates or attend rallies, memes have become the campaign message itself. But, few stop to ask who creates these posts, or whose interests they serve.
Memes have long been a part of Sri Lanka’s online humour, but their tone changed sharply around the Presidential Election of 2019. Many Facebook pages that focused on cricket or day-to-day comedy suddenly switched to political satire. Some mocked a candidate’s English, others poked fun at election promises, and a few crafted storylines featuring rival politicians as recurring characters.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Election Commission (EC) Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that by the 2020 Parliamentary Election, these posts were no longer spontaneous. “By that time, the memes and most posts on social media weren’t random. We saw pages with thousands of followers posting content that mirrored campaign messaging almost word for word.”
Speaking to The Daily Morning, attorney and rights activist Swasthika Arulingam called memes “the political cartoons of the digital age”, sharp, witty, and capable of holding the powerful to account. “Memes have played an excellent role on social media when it comes to satire and holding politicians accountable. Just as political cartoons were essential in the print era, memes are equally important now. They are humorous and can deliver a message that resonates with the public.” But, she said, the difference lies in accountability. “A political cartoon carries a signature. You know the artist and the publication. A meme doesn’t. It’s an unaccountable way of trying to hold someone accountable. Unless we have the technology to trace where it came from, we can’t really know who created it.” She added that anonymity is both a shield and a weapon. “We know that cartoonists in Sri Lanka have faced threats and violence. In that context, anonymity keeps satire alive. But, it also allows abuse to thrive. Memes have been used to ridicule women, minorities, and marginalised groups. When satire turns into harassment, its purpose is lost. If you can’t verify something, don’t share it, especially if it targets a person. But, if there’s genuine wrongdoing and satire calls it out, that’s healthy. The key is responsibility, both from those in power and from us as users.”
Election monitors say that memes and anonymous accounts have become a major challenge during election seasons. Speaking to The Daily Morning, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said that memes are now one of the most common tools for spreading misinformation and distorting public opinion.
“Unfortunately, social media has not yet made a positive contribution in circulating accurate information during elections. Political parties and candidates use memes to promote their campaigns, but, they are also used to tarnish reputations. We can’t always measure the damage that they cause.” He recalled a case where a prominent politician was mocked online for not having children.
“We knew it was harassment because the facts were clear. But, when memes spread falsehoods that can’t be verified, there’s no easy way to challenge them.” PAFFREL has worked with the EC to report such content. “We could get some of the clearer violations removed during Presidential and General/Parliamentary Elections,” Hettiarachchi said. “But, it was harder during the Local Government Polls. Social media companies say that they have systems for national elections but lack the capacity for smaller ones.”
Looking ahead, he warned that artificial intelligence (AI) will intensify the problem in the next round of elections. “By the next national election, we will see AI-generated voices, faces, and memes. It’s going to be harder to tell what’s real and what’s not. Many young people already believe whatever they see first. That mindset can shape votes.”
Much of this humour, insiders say, is not spontaneous. It is organised, funded, and coordinated. A person who had worked in a leading political party’s media unit for several years described the system to The Daily Morning on the condition of anonymity. “Some parties have their own pages. Others fund independent-looking ones. During election time, popular pages are paid to post memes or videos. Some charge Rs. 150,000 per post. Videos cost more.” He said that these networks extend across platforms. “We had teams creating memes, writers for captions, video editors, and people paid just to comment and boost engagement. There were salary scales for each category.”
He described one campaign that targeted an Opposition Parliamentarian through personal attacks. “Our media team interviewed his former wife, who spoke about how this particular MP treated her after their divorce. Those interviews were then edited into short clips and circulated on social media. We did that because he was very vocal against the Government at the time.” At peak times, he said that the operation had around 80 people. “There were teams to monitor engagement, respond to critics, and create counter-memes. Almost every major party has similar systems now. Without them, you can’t survive in politics.”
According to Rathnayake, the EC now has a special unit to monitor social media during elections. “We observe posts and memes with support from civil society organisations. If something threatens the electoral integrity, we notify the social media platforms to take it down.” But, with 100s of 1,000s of posts shared daily, he said, “It’s impossible to track everything. Even when we identify harmful content, we can’t remove it ourselves. We must inform the platforms, and by the time they respond, the post may have gone viral.” He added that international platforms operate under their own definitions of harm. “Sometimes, what we see as unethical doesn’t violate their community guidelines. These delays mean that the damage is already done.” Despite the limitations, the EC continues to collaborate with watchdog groups. “We can control what’s printed or aired on television (TV), but not what circulates online. We can only request action, not enforce it,” he said. Even with more funding or laws, Rathnayake doubts that any country can completely eliminate this issue. “No one can stop the negative impact of memes 100%. We can only limit it.”
Speaking to The Daily Morning, digital researcher and Groundviews founder Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa said that memes are not merely jokes or misinformation, but that they are tools that shape emotions and identity. “Unlike fake news that can be corrected with facts, memes work emotionally. They influence how people feel about an issue or a person, not what they know. Their humour, familiarity, and algorithms make them more persuasive than propaganda articles.” He noted that memes are the “cultural equivalent of genes” (a view initially originating from British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’s 1976 book ‘The Selfish Gene’), easily replicable and endlessly adaptable. This, he said, makes them perfect for “narrative corruption.”
“They don’t just spread lies. They distort the emotional landscape, guiding how people interpret politics without them realising it.” His past research, including the 2014 Liking Violence study, tracked anti-Muslim memes that contributed to online radicalisation before the 2018 Kandy riots. Later, during the #GoHomeGota protests, his team documented coordinated meme networks that smeared protest leaders and manipulated sentiment. He warned that meme-based disinformation is a bigger threat to democracy than fabricated news. “They replace policy debate with emotion-driven influence operations. They frame opponents as existential threats and normalise hate. These campaigns, funded by untraceable money and spread through non-political pages, bypass the election law entirely.” Fact-checking, he said, is rarely effective. “You can’t correct emotion with logic. A meme spreads through laughter, while a fact-check reaches a fraction of the audience. We need long-term media literacy and investment in creative, prosocial content that competes for attention.” He added that regulation alone will not solve the problem. “Banning memes only strengthens them. What we need is transparency in online political spending, accountability from tech companies, and education that builds critical thinking. The solution is civic empowerment.”
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s Charuka Damunupola said that no authority in Sri Lanka can directly remove posts from social media platforms. “Platforms like Facebook and TikTok cooperate during elections, but, only for specific cases like advertisements that violate disclosure rules.” He added, “Even if a meme harms a politician’s reputation, we can’t take it down. Users can report it as abusive, but, most memes use satire or coded language, making it difficult to prove harm.”
According to Damunupola, only severe cases — terrorism, drugs, child abuse — prompt quick responses from tech companies. “Even if a court issues an order, social media companies rarely release data unless it’s a global priority issue.” He noted that Sri Lankan users are still developing digital maturity. “In other countries, people condemn those who post malicious content. We will get there too. It can’t be done through laws alone.” He said that while the Online Safety Act allows authorities to request user information through court orders, implementation is slow. “Even if the court issues an order, platforms may not release information. It may even become an issue between two countries. So, the introduction of this Act was not that effective.”
For ordinary voters, memes have become part of political life, something between entertainment and propaganda. Speaking to The Daily Morning, university student Nadeesha Wijesuriya said that she does not follow traditional news. “I mostly get my political updates from Facebook or TikTok. Some memes are funny and true, but sometimes, I don’t know what to believe. If a post looks real, people share it. Nobody checks.”
Speaking to The Daily Morning, a three-wheeler operator in Colombo, Sudheera Chandrasekara said that memes help him make sense of politics, even if they are exaggerated. “Politicians lie on TV, but, memes show the real thing in a funny way. Sometimes, they say what we want to say but can’t.”
Speaking to The Daily Morning, a retired schoolteacher in Homagama, D. Chandralatha said: “People laugh at memes, but, they can destroy someone’s character. My grandchildren believe everything that they see online. There’s no filter.”
Many younger voters said that they were aware of manipulation but still consumed memes daily. “We know that some pages are political,” said 27-year-old graphic designer Viraj Lakshitha while speaking to The Daily Morning. “But, memes are part of the culture now. Even if you don’t trust them, you still share them.”
As of this year, the ‘Global Digital Reports’ reveal that Sri Lanka has more than 8.5 million active social media users, most of them on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Meta platforms dominate political communication, with Facebook accounting for the largest share of online campaigning.
Although Sri Lanka’s election laws require candidates to disclose campaign spending, Rathnayake said that these rules don’t apply to digital advertising. There are no specific caps or reporting related requirements for online content, which allows political parties to fund meme campaigns and influencer networks without transparency.
Social media platforms claim to monitor content during elections, but, their local presence is limited. Meta and TikTok maintain regional hubs in Singapore and India, with no dedicated offices in Sri Lanka. The lack of direct engagement, research say, slows responses to local issues.
TikTok, for instance, has introduced election integrity guidelines in some countries but not in Sri Lanka. Facebook’s Ad Library covers paid promotions but excludes memes, influencer posts, and anonymous campaigns.
A local digital rights activist, speaking to The Daily Morning on the condition of anonymity, said: “The platforms have policies on paper, but, in practice, enforcement is minimal. They don’t understand the context of our language or politics. Sinhala and Tamil moderation is poor, and local slang can bypass filters easily.”
Sri Lanka’s election laws, written decades before social media, offer little clarity on regulating digital campaigning. The EC’s powers largely cover broadcast and print media. There are no clear definitions for digital advertisements, meme-based propaganda, or political pages without declared ownership.
Legal analysts say that reforms are overdue. A 2023 EC proposal suggested new guidelines requiring disclosure for online political content, including memes and influencer endorsements, but, it remains under review.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, attorney Thineth Korasagalla said, “Our legal framework is outdated. The election law needs to recognise digital campaigning, anonymous advertising, and cross-platform operations. But, regulation must protect free speech. Satire should not be criminalised.” He added that introducing spending transparency and digital literacy education would be more effective than bans.
Digital campaign insiders say that meme operations now rival traditional advertising in cost and reach. “A single meme campaign can reach a million people for less than what it costs to run one newspaper ad,” said a Colombo-based digital strategist who has worked with several candidates. “That’s why parties are pouring money into this space. It’s cheaper, faster, and more emotional.” Speaking to The Daily Morning on the condition of anonymity, he said that some parties spend up to 30% of their media budgets on social media operations, much of it undocumented. “The money is paid in cash. There’s no trace. Even if regulators wanted to check, they couldn’t.”
Female politicians face unique risks in this environment. Government MP Ambika Samuel described being targeted after entering the Parliament. “When I was running for elections, people supported me on social media. But, once I was elected, some of them turned against me. Memes made fun of how I dress, talk, and even my family.” Speaking to The Daily Morning, she said that while she was mentally prepared for such attacks, she knows many others who are not. “Some women leave politics because of it. That’s a loss for our future. We have to stand firm, or, no one will want to enter politics.” She said the Women MPs’ Caucus and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs are planning awareness programmes to support females and children who become victims of social media-related issues. “If we don’t act, women’s participation will decline further.”
Globally, Courts and Governments are also grappling with how to regulate memes without stifling free expression. In August 2025, a United States federal court struck down California laws that sought to restrict online political satire, ruling them unconstitutional. In India, courts have handled defamation cases over political memes, including one involving a morphed image of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In 2019, India’s Madhya Pradesh High Court temporarily suspended livestreaming its hearings after lawyers were targeted by memes. This year, the Indian Supreme Court ordered two comedians to apologise for mocking people with disabilities, showing how the line between humour and harm is increasingly contested.
As Sri Lanka approaches another election cycle, experts say that the real battle lies not just in regulation but in building civic resilience.
Dr. Hattotuwa said: “You can’t fight emotion with fact-checks alone. We need creative counter-narratives that are just as engaging, that use humour and local culture to promote truth and tolerance.”
Some media literacy initiatives are already emerging. Non-Governmental organisations and youth collectives have started workshops, teaching young people how to spot manipulation and verify information. “It’s slow work, but, it’s important,” said a volunteer trainer from Kegalle, who spoke to The Daily Morning on the condition of anonymity. “We show them how memes are made. Once they see that process, they stop taking them at face value.”
Civil society groups have also begun experimenting with ‘positive memes’, humorous posts that promote critical thinking, community unity, and peaceful dialogue. Although small in scale, these projects hint at how creativity can counter toxicity.
As for the EC, Rathnayake said that the Commission is exploring partnerships with universities and fact-checking organisations to strengthen digital monitoring before the next election. “We can’t control everything, but, we can create awareness and work with others.”
For now, the memes keep coming, spreading faster than regulation, riding on laughter, and shaping public opinion, one joke at a time. The question is whether Sri Lankan voters can learn to tell the difference between satire and manipulation.
This story was produced under the CIR– FACTUM Media Fellowship Program and was originally published in The Morning on 19 November 2025.
