Protesters are going outside the USAID -Kaxter headquarters in Washington, Colombia District.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)
On February 5, Elon Musk came to X to criticize the US Agency for International Development. Trump administration has already stopped financing up to 90 percent of agency projects worldwide. But Musk continued to humiliate the agency as “Radical Left Political PSY OP“Within a few weeks after President Trump dismissed most of his activity. He retouvils on this day”inappropriate projects“Specified by a quick answer 47, with a White House account.” 7.9 million (went) to teach Sri Lanka journalists how to avoid “binary gender language,” the mail said. Musk secured initiatives as “crazy waste of your tax money!” His followers responded to conspiracy theories and urged USAID employees to get a term in prison.
In Sri Lanka, Media Enogations staff for the Democratic Sri Lanka, the program allegedly funded the pronouns, were shocked. They did not spend any funds in the appearance of Musk described. The 7.9 million dollars received a confrontation with the misinformation in Sri Lanka, equipping students, teachers, civil servants and journalists with educational resources. It was trained in teaching people to show misinformation, develop their reporting skills and engage in mobile journalism.
None of the former Mend staff expected their small initiative that the fake news with which he actively worked for the fight. “This particular activity is a classic example of the campaign misinformation,” said Ihar, a previous employee whose name was changed from a constant pause of USAID financing
Mend is among more than 5,000 projects worldwide that have lost funding when stopping the Trump USAID administration. With a closed project, his former employee bothered that his end could lead to more than hostile X. Sri Lanka’s comments, where social units that pushed the 26-year civil war on the Internet and in the press, the end of programs such as Mend, threatened to cleanse.
Over the last decade, Sri Lanka has become a focus for the language of hatred and false information. In the country there is more Mobile devices than people and over the third His citizens are actively using social media. His high connection came to the cost. Misinformation – this is a common problem on increasingly popular sites experienced around the island. False digital claims catalyzed tough attacks on ethnic and religious minorities on the island. In 2018A Facebook message about the death of a Sinhala Buddhist man during an altercation of the movement with two Muslims quickly grew into a riot where the crowds burned a man to death. Experts reflect this work in groups such as Mend, have helped create digital literacy skills that could resist this division.
“This is the need for Sri Lanka,” said Sanjan Khatotova, former director of the project misinformation based on New Zealand and a researcher who studies Sri Lanka’s digital landscape. “(Misinformation) has a significant impact on life and livelihood on economic conditions and policies that the government accepts … What has a direct impact on Muslims and other minorities in this country.”
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No group appeared in the absence of Menda, and the lack of an alternative led to concern that digital violence would deteriorate in the coming years. “If you do not have a population that is vaccinated against how social media can manipulate their emotions, reactions, behavior, you will have a problem,” Hatotuv said. “This is a very obvious progress to an unstable and cruel society.”
A few months later, employees still still wonder why they were aimed, and fear that Moscow’s attention has only caused the need for work they cannot do now. “(Training) gave an awareness of the media, how the media work, the media -ethics, as a person as a consumer should know (so) avoid misinformation … (and) as people become vulnerable to the use of the language of hatred and how it affects people,” said Shafur Rahman Sadhak, a former coach. “People need to have a critical eye with them that protects them.”
The project cooperated closely with different media organizations. He got praise From US Ambassador Julie Chung for his contribution to the promoting independent, accurate journalism. With the support of the local media expanded their ability. His resources were particularly important to promote gender equality in the field. “In a country such as Sri Lanka-where we lack a comprehensive education in relationships and has no effective and sustainable systems to solve topics such as gender, gender-based or sexual health in schools,” But 15 percent Journalists registered by the Sri Lanka government are women, and the project staff saw how gender inequality is being discussed as a necessary element of strengthening local reporting. In the classes, staff found that many younger participants also wanted information about how to report gender identity. Some have heard about LGBTQ+ Sri Lanka community, but they thought they lacked knowledge to cover it effectively. Mend provided basic technical information that could make this reporting possible. “That is why the work we did through the Mend program, especially from the gender, was so important,” Ihar said.
In conversations with former employees, some have never heard of the projects of “binary language” to which Musk refers. Others could only come up with one potential copy.
“On our Facebook page, a single post on social media was published, which focused on the importance of remembering the pronouns during the interview,” Ihar said. The Facebook report included definitions of terms such as “gender” and recommendations for checking the pronouns of others. Employees were reminded that many recommendations follow from common problems. “In response, we addressed these questions directly in the training,” Ihara said Nation. “As the participants considered this information useful, we decided to share the message on the Internet.”
The record caught the attention of American extreme media over the years before it again moved to the Musk account. Initial Claim for Binary Language Teaching you are related to News Fox News 2022 article This is supposedly Monda held a “wide company” dedicated to this issue. “This information is absolutely incorrect,” said Tarushi, another employee who also demanded anonymity with the privacy problems. “This amount of millions of dollars was the whole project. And the gender project was probably $ 15,000 for the whole two -year period. And it wasn’t just talking about pronouns … The pronouns and everything was done by their own.”
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At the time of the article, Fox leaders did not worry about the program that faced the consequences of the bad press. “Then there was no threat,” Tarushi said Nation. “We did not see the results of this article until Trump was chosen for the second time.”
For Mend employees, article and discourse in the social media he pushed is proof of their efforts. They also remind of the gap they can’t fill. The former Menda office was closed to Colombo. Many of his staff tried to move on by finding temporary employment or academic opportunities that will hopefully allow them to wait for USAID to the next administration. However, misinformation continues, former employees refuse to give up the project goals constantly. “Our work and our struggle for these rights will continue – with financial support from USAID,” Ihar said. “The loss of funding can slow us down, but it will not stop us.”
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