Disinformation, or the purposeful release of misinformation aimed at causing harm, creating panic and influencing the overall perception of the population, has become an inherent part of modern warfare in the 21st century. It has emerged as one of the most powerful weapons of the contemporary warfare with an increasing number of people resorting to online sources of news, analysis and emotional stimulation. This silent invisible force targets the core aspects of society including perceptions, beliefs and decision-making processes unlike the bombs and bullets of the traditional warfare. The modern world has witnessed the growth of propaganda, yet it has existed since time immemorial with regard to war-time leaflets and state sponsored broadcasts. As a button press can now transmit narratives in real-time to millions of people worldwide, disinformation over the last few decades has acquired the primary strategic significance in the contemporary war arena due to its ability to influence the combatants as well as noncombatants in any conflict.
Imagine that you are a citizen of the country that is at war in a struggle to gain freedom. The nation is filled with hope as people await victory as soldiers fight tirelessly on the frontline to be able to breathe freely in their freed country once again. However, in a very sudden turn of events, mobile phones show a video of their president calling upon soldiers to surrender. This video not only demoralizes the soldiers but also shatters the hopes of the people, causing chaos and disorder among the masses of people as well as among the fighters. The video is quickly called AI-generated fake video and is declared a propaganda-based disinformation campaign, but the damage is already done as the public perception has been manipulated, chaos has been created and panic has been sown among combatants as well as non- combatants. And unfortunately, this situation is a reality and not a fiction. This is the reality that was lived by the Ukrainian people in March 2022 when Russia launched a disinformation campaign that sought to spread propaganda and create civil unrest by creating a fake video in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told soldiers to drop their guns and surrender. The video was shared on various media platforms and disseminated with unbelievable pace, causing panic and fright among the general population and combat soldiers. This illustrates how disinformation becomes a propaganda tool as potent as tanks and missiles through AI-generated content including deepfakes that are designed to manipulate and influence public perception and how warfare has extended beyond physical battlefields into digital environments in the contemporary times.
Although the AI-generated Zelensky video is a modern-day example of propaganda, the concept of propaganda has always been an irreplaceable aspect of war. The idea of propaganda that influences the minds of people and debilitates their opponents without necessarily waging war is the extension of a statement of Sun Tzu that all warfare lies in deception. When Genghis Khan overestimated his army and power it became an instrument of fear because on many occasions, he was able to win battles without even fighting by intimidating the entire population. Posters and leaflets were also utilized in the course of World War II, demeaning the enemy side and portraying their own side as a positive image of righteous warriors, which played with the psyche of th e military and the people at large, creating a sense of psychological manipulation into the minds of people. The democratic ideals were aired during the Cold War by Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America to the communist nations and were countered by the Soviet broadcasting network which aired communist ideologies and made propaganda their battle fields. The television channels such as CNN, Al Jazeera and Other such as RT after the Cold War era influenced the world in its discourse in terms of whether the war in Iraq or Afghanistan was a good act or a bad act. In our digital age the social media has turned into a weapon of information warfare employed by both non-state and state players. What it has resulted in is the invention of AI tools and social media bots to further boost the disinformation campaigns. Such efficient capabilities of the technology in the modern computerized world have increased the effects of deception on a scale, which is the very purpose of the contemporary propaganda.
Disinformation, including the creation of stories of religious heroism, also assisted ISIS to attract thousands of foreign fighters as sophisticated propaganda video-making helped to win new recruits. Furthermore, inaccurate information regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestine, viral posts and selectively portrayed images impact how the conflict has been seen by the international audience throughout its timeline. These examples make a reference to the fact that the digital age propaganda is not backdrop but a battlefield in its own right.
Intentionality of disinformation has far-reaching impacts on the contemporary war with regard to strategic control. The outcome of the battle fields stops being the sole measure of war as the field of perception plays a key role. Once narrative control is achieved, international support is transformed, diplomatic outcomes are transformed and military and civilian morale is distorted. The fog of war, which is created by disinformation in parallel, clouds the judgment. Leaders and populations are overwhelmed by the existence of contradictory stories, which results in response complexities and conflicts propagation. These conditions turn the truth into a victim and therefore open societies to manipulations.
To be effective in terms of fact-checking, independent journalism and digital literacy need to adapt to the scale and speed of online communication which has never been experienced. Collaborations between governments, civil society, and international organizations are required to create strategies which may help the people to resist propaganda campaigns. Disinformation must be considered as collective security threat at global level. The Doomsday clock has been set 89 seconds to midnight, closest to midnight ever and disinformation is recognized as a threat multiplier leading to global devastation if not limited through collective efforts. Therefore, the entire international community needs to build resilience in order to cope with disinformation campaigns.
To conclude, disinformation ceases to be a mere war accessory and transforms itself into the essence of war. The modern societies facing the challenge heavily rely on truth’s defense as heavily as they rely on a territorial defense. Disinformation shall be one of the hardest weapons to counter so long as we may be manipulated into our perceptions. It is not just a question of how to combat the immediate battle but also of how we want our societies to head.
