When the Little Guy's Tools for Change Are Co-opted
"Pledge support for SL by signing the petition atwww.peacepetition4lk.org" -- this seemingly innocuous exhortation suddenly began appearing on my phone screen every time I sent a text or made a call in Sri Lanka. The simple message belies the complex realities of a 26-year civil war and a government eager to hide its human rights abuses.
Government propaganda through mobile companies is a usual occurrence, as I learned four months earlier when, arriving in Colombo, I received a text from "PRESIDENT" wishing me a happy new year in English and Sinhalese (conspicuously, no Tamil). Now Dialog, Sri Lanka's largest phone operator, was asking me to take online action.
Government propaganda through mobile companies is a usual occurrence, as I learned four months earlier when, arriving in Colombo, I received a text from "PRESIDENT" wishing me a happy new year in English and Sinhalese (conspicuously, no Tamil). Now Dialog, Sri Lanka's largest phone operator, was asking me to take online action.
Surprisingly, www.peacepetition4lk.org redirects to a petition on the change.org website asking the U.N. to stay away from the Sri Lankan peace process. Although the word "PRESIDENT" doesn't appear on the petition or the phone message, it is fair to assume from its cozy relationship with the phone companies that the government is involved.
