Lu Olo said it was unacceptable for journalists to use inaccurate and unreliable information, calling for immediate investment in investigative journalism training and practice.

Speaking at the Dialogue Forum in Dili on Friday, he said the Timorese public suffered from the lack of investigative journalism experience within the nation’s media that often failed to “search for information” before issuing a public statement.

 "I ask the journalists to improve their skills through the existing training," he said.

The President singled out a raft of “fake information” circulating in Timor-Leste that the media should be refuting and accurately informing the public on.

"I am very concerned about hoaxes because it will degrade one's dignity, injure our relations with each other and will turn off the spirit to share knowledge with each other, '' he said.

Lu Olo criticized the publishing of one-sided news stories that denigrated the important information and accountability role media should play.

Timor-Leste ranks 95 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Border’s 2018 Freedom of Information world rankings.