Factseeker has observed a news story being shared on social media claiming that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has ordered a ban on the screening of films starring Indian Tamil actor Joseph Vijay (Thalapathy Vijay) in Sri Lanka.

Upon seeing this post, which was titled “Thalapathy Vijay’s films banned from screening in Sri Lanka! President Anura orders,” it was found to have been published on August 25, 2025, on a website called www.Newsfirst.lk with the official channel logo of ‘Sirasa Newsfirst’.

The news story is as follows: [https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15Be2WfpmNi/?mibextid=wwXIfr]

To verify the authenticity of this claim, Factseeker investigated the official pages of the Sirasa channel, but no such news was found.

When inquired about this, the Sirasa Newsfirst news division confirmed that they did not publish any such news on their channel, website, or social media pages.

Furthermore, when the Presidential Media Division was asked about the social media news claiming a ban on the screening of Joseph Vijay’s films in Sri Lanka, they stated that no such orders were issued by the President.

Therefore, Factseeker confirms that the news being shared on social media—that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has ordered a ban on the screening of films starring actor Joseph Vijay (Thalapathy Vijay) in Sri Lanka—is a fabricated one.