Social Media & Cultural Warfare: A Synopsis

Throughout ever research project in the social Web, we encounter the nasty stuff. From spam and porn content through to anti-societal groups and racism. Just as there is much good to social media, there is the bad. One of these more frightening aspects is what we term “Cultural Cyber Warfare.” This means information (videos, blogs, tweets etc.) that is created by one cultural/ethnic/religious group (all non-state actors) against another. Such hate content has been around for centuries in various forms, sometimes as state-sanctioned propaganda and at other times by non-state actors and groups.

With social medias and current technologies however, such rhetoric is far easier to create and broadcast than ever before. For the most part, such destructive content is seen for what it is and easily dismissed. But sometimes we argue, this is not the right way to view such content. Our research results are indicating that radical groups and other non-state actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their use of social media technologies to conduct information warfare or psyops. And it may have a real-world effect on peace negotiations in fragile or conflict ridden states, between religios groups in fragile states and so on.

In the case of Iran, we can see that the Basij has become very sophisticated and coordinated in their counter-revolutionary tactics through blogs, forums, Facebook and other social networking sites. They regularly counter claims by would-be revolutionaries. Information the Basij gains on Iranians living in Iran via Iranian diaspora is often used to arrest and imprison the resident Iranians.

Throughout YouTube and other video sites there are Islamic fundamentalist videos that aim to recruit youth and others and even convert more moderate and liberal Muslims (which is the majority of Muslims anyway.) Increasingly, we see pro-Palestinian groups creating anti-Israeli propaganda.

There are several ways that such information warfare in social media can spill into the real-world and here are some of them;

• Drive recruiting of youth or disenfranchised people, resulting in increased activists that can lead to larger protests on city streets
• Create perceived tensions between affected groups that hampers negotiating efforts
• Unnoticed, this tension can undermine relations between communities and state actors may not understand underlying reasons
• Aggressor states may use so-called “civil society” groups or non-state actors to conduct psyops at a distance to disrupt negotiations or identify potential protestors and dissidents to arrest, compromising legitimate protest.
• Flushing out opponents for violent acts

Governments and other organizations, including multi-national companies operating in fragile states will need to pay ever more closer attention to these issues to avoid security risk for personnel and to provide situational awareness for negotiations and other international relations purposes. Such activity will only increase in the coming years as regions like the Middle East and Western Africa undergo huge political and societal shifts.

The Role of Social Media Research in Foreign Policy

The role of social medias in the Arab Spring is being intensely analysed (and we’re among those analyzing) and was perhaps the crux point of governments and other organizations seeing the value of social medias in civil society change. The failed green revolution in Iran in 2009 was arguably the opening gambit of social medias role in political change. Whether social media played a pivotal role however, is up for debate.

Revolutions aside, social medias offer more opportunities to governments, IGO‘s, NGO’s and multi-national corporations for knowledge, context and understanding  of civil society than has been possible before. No longer is social media usage purely for entertainment value – and those that think it is, may be missing critical insights.

We have conducted a number of research projects into social media for public sector and private sector clients on foreign policy issues. Through these projects (and our in-house research) we’ve come to gain a very deep appreciation, as have our clients, into the value social medias can play. Among them are;

Citizen Views & Opinions in Recovering States: A prime example here is Haiti. After the cholera outbreak in 2010, many Haitians and Haitian diaspora took to social media channels to discuss the issue. Chief among them was the evolution of a mythology or conspiracy theory that the UN was out to poison them. This is certainly not the case. But such views become valid perceptions and create communications gaps and strained relationships between those giving and receiving aid. Research into social media can identofy such issues and enable improved communications.

Trade Negotiation Issues: One of our recent research projects helped a government to identify why its attempts to communicate with the business community in a foreign country weren’t going so well. Our research showed that the target business community was referring to the bilateral trade agreement in a completely different way – simply because of a cultural issue of language. By taking an innovative step in looking at online chatter, the government was able to change its communications tactics and better engage the audience more effectively.

Domestic Views on Foreign Policy: Citizens at home have their views on their governments activities in foreign countries; especially when it comes to conflicts where military personnel are at risk. Understanding the views, opinions and mood of citizens at home can help a government to develop effective communications to its citizens and understand if the engagement in a foreign country may cause significant unrest in the civil population.

Peace Operations: Today’s peace operations in fragile states in or just coming out of conflict are delicate and far more complex than they used to be. Citizens in fragile states are also more connected to the Web than is often realized; through both broadband access and mobile devices. In fact, the use of social medias via mobile devices is quite significant – enough for viable research. Monitoring and analyzing citizens commentary can help understand citizen views, identify areas at risk for aid delivery and more.

There are more areas where such research can have an impact. Often, online research is a complement to traditional methodologies such as interviews and focus groups, providing a layer of insight not possible before.