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SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL OF HYBRID WARFARE

Prepared by: Huk Mykola, Hunkevych Ostap, Derkach Khrystyna, Karachevska Hanna Lviv 2018

INTRODUCTION

In January 2016 almost half (3, 4 billion) of the world’s population was actively using the Internet, and 1/3 (or 2, 3 billion) of all people were using various social networking sites. Furthermore, the number of mobile social media users is growing by 12 users/second

SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA

The NATO Allied Command Operations (ACO) Directive defines social media as

webbased technologies used for social interaction and to transform and broadcast media monologues into interactives, social dialogues

Some Types of Social Media:

  • Social networks – Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin
  • Visual social networks – Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope
  • Blogs – Wordpress, Blogspot, Livejournal
  • Microblogging – Twitter, Tumblr
  • Content communities – Youtube, Vimeo, Flickr
  • Instant messaging – Skype, Messenger, Whatsapp, Telegram
  • Location based services – Foursquare
  • Online gaming – World of Warcraft
  • Music sharing – Spotify

1

THE CONCEPT OF HYBRID WARFARE

The term ‘hybrid warfare’ first appeared in 2002 in a thesis by William J. Nemeth describing the way Chechen insurgents combined guerrilla warfare with modern military tactics and the use of mobile and Internet technology.

The term ‘hybrid warfare’ was primarily used to refer to the strategies of nonstate actors, such as the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, but it gained new momentum after the Russian operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine in 2014 that seemed to follow a script very much in line with General Valery Gerasimov’s 2013 doctrine of ‘non-linear war’.

2

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN RUSSIA’S INFORMATION ACTIVITIES

The role of the virtual environment has been acknowledged in several Russian policy documents. The Russian Military Doctrine from December 2014 highlights the extensive geopolitical threats that Russia is currently facing, as well as the new methods that the West is using against Russia.

CONTROL OVER THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

A number of restrictive laws were adopted during 2014. For example, the Blogger Registration Law specifies that bloggers who have more than 3000 followers should register as a media outlet; it also specifies that the authorities have the right to access a user’s information and that online information must be stored in Russian servers so that the government can access it. Another law adopted in early 2014 allows the government to block any website without explanation. The law was used to block the websites of opposition activists Alexey Navalny and Garry Kasparov.74 The law on personal data storage that went into effect in September 2015 specifies that Internet service providers who handle Russian customer data are required to physically keep their servers on Russian soil, which allows security institutions to monitor their activities. This law also affects the operation of foreign social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter

3

DAESH’S USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR INFORMATION ACTIVITIE

The conflict in Syria has been recognised as the most ‘socially mediated’ war in history.

Here, the exploitation of the virtual space for warfare is taking place at unprecedented levels of sophistication with Daesh being one of the most visible actors in this regard.

Daesh communication objectives for achieving this ambition can be divided as following:

  • Support (recruiting new supporters and raising funds)
  • Unify (gathering Sunnis around an artificial state)
  • Frighten (intimidating both internal and external enemies)
  • Inform (proclaiming the effectiveness of the Caliphate)

INTERNET TROLLING

Trolling has been recognised since late 1980s and early 1990s when USENET groups, forums, and bulletin boards suffered from ‘flame wars’ instigated through what was dubbed ‘trolling’, which was a new social behaviour at the time.

Trolls commonly attempted to reveal hidden disagreements among community members by posing provocative question or posting extreme viewpoints on controversial topics.

However, research conducted by the NATO StratCom COE suggests a differentiation between the ‘classic troll’ as described above and the ‘hybrid troll’, who engages in the same patterns of behaviour as the traditional troll, but operates in the context of a particular political or military agenda.

INTERNET TROLLING

The StratCom COE study Internet trolling as a tool of warfare: the case of Latvia suggests distinction between five main message templates used for creating comments

  • Blame the US conspiracy trolls
  • Bikini trolls
  • Aggressive trolls,
  • Wikipedia trolls
  • Attachment trolls

INTERNET TROLLING IDENTIFICATION TUTORIAL

?

CONCLUSIONS

Efforts to control the dissemination of terrorist propaganda or other malicious use of social media, either through technical or policy restrictions, are not an effective solution.

It is a game of cat and mouse, where ‘bad actors’ continually develop new, sophisticated methods of influence and public opinion manipulation while social media platforms and security services play catch-up in countering them.

CONCLUSIONS

SOCIAL MEDIA AND HYBRID WARFARE - PEOPLE IN POWER VS POWER OF PEOPLE

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