Lake House To Sue ‘Aarakshakayo’: Page Taken Down But CID Inquiry Continues
April 22, 2017
The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House) is to be the first Sri Lankan company to resort to a law suit over potential financial losses caused by online abuse and fake news.
Kavan
The company lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigations Department on Thursday against a defamatory Facebook page by the name of ‘Lake House Aaraksha Karanno’.
The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was entrusted with the task of offering technical assistance to the CID team handling the inquiry.
However, the derogatory Facebook page was taken down a day after the complaint to the CID was lodged.
Highly-placed Police sources told Colombo Telegraph that the inquiry will continue despite the page being taken down by its admin.
They added the investigation would be carried out based on scientific evidence and details provided by CERT.
A spokesman from the company who wished to remain anonymous said the company would resort to legal action, based on the the CID inquiry.
He said Colombo Telegraph’s revelation on the matter was one of the key reasons for the company to seek the assistance of the law enforcement authorities to investigate into the matter.
Colombo Telegraph is now in a position to reveal that the members of the CID team would visit Lake House early next week to gather information on the Facebook page and those who were behind it.
In the complaint, the Lake House management said the Facebook page caused a potential financial loss of over Rs. 200 million as it spread false information about the company and its business decision. The Lake House recorded a profit of Rs. 204 million during the last financial year and the management said the Facebook page was aimed at affecting the company’s profitability.
Colombo Telegraph exclusively reported that a derogatory Facebook page, allegedly run by a Director of the company, has created a heated situation among the members of the company’s senior management. Evidence has been found to suspect that a member of the Director board had written derogatory posts for the Facebook page by the name of ‘Lake House aaraksha karanno’.
