Sanjana Hattotuwa
Special Advisor at ICT4Peace Foundation, former Research Director at The Disinformation Project
Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa did his doctoral research on the intersection of social media, political communication, propaganda, and information disorders in Sri Lanka, as well as how New Zealand’s Christchurch massacre in March 2019 was represented on Twitter. Specialising in social media communications strategy, digital security, social media activism, online advocacy, and mixed-methods social media research, Hattotuwa’s experience in studying, negotiating, and developing policies addressing information disorders spans over two-decades, and work in South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa, the United States, Europe and the Balkans. He founded in 2006, and till June 2020 curated the award-winning Groundviews, Sri Lanka’s first civic media website. From July 2021 to October 2024 he was the Director of Research at The Disinformation Project, based in New Zealand. He remains a Special Advisor at the ICT4Peace Foundation, based in Switzerland. Between late-2023, and mid-2025 alone Dr. Hattotuwa published over 180 original research-based articles, book chapters, substantive reports, confidential national security briefs, official submissions to Sri Lankan, and New Zealand legislatures, and various other analytical pieces, videos, and podcasts establishing a comprehensive body of work examining contemporary challenges to human rights, democratic institutions, electoral moments, and information integrity, and digital governance across multiple jurisdictions.
