POST THE Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22, it has become evident, more than ever before, that disinformation and misinformation pose significant challenges to the security of the region. Disinformation has now emerged as another important domain of the warfare.
We have seen the disinformation attacks involve the intentional spreading of false information, with end goals of misleading, confusing, and encouraging violence, and gaining money, power, or reputation. Disinformation attacks may involve political, economic, and individual actors.
While recognising the strategic and tactical vitality of disinformation warfare, we need to understand the huge adverse impact on the security environment of our own country. In the fast-changing global security environment, one could not undermine the importance of information warfare essentially in the context that modern wars are not essentially fought and won by the heavy weaponry.
Before we convert news rooms into war rooms, we need to understand the serious implications of disinformation warfare – a tactic within information warfare.
Ukraine’s recent drone attackon Rusia has essentially highlighted the fact that the sophisticated fighter jets costing tens of billions could be smashed by drones costing just few bucks. The particular drone attack has changed the perception of the high-scale war fought with high-end sophisticated but costlier weapons. Likewise, information warfare could be even more effective provided it is calibrated, cohesive and coordinated. A seemingly weak adversary in terms of weaponry and machinery could be smarter than its militarily strong enemies.
However, disinformation or misinformation warfare could be self-defeating at times because, after all, such warfare is essentially meant to erode the credibility of adversaries. Overindulging could sometimes backfire and could be self-defeating.
The challenges posed by disinformation warfare require comprehensive cooperation from all parties, especially the media. Admittedly we cannot expect media to be absolutely impartial and truthful during an extraordinary situation. It is very important that our country’s ecosystem remains controlled and protected, which is a key factor in creating a safe and a stable nation. But exposing public to an onslaught of false and misleading information, will make the nation’s efforts to maintain peace and security increasingly difficult.
That said the media has emerged as yet another domain of warfare-the media warfare. Using media and information strategies to influence public opinion, undermine an opponent’s legitimacy, or interfere with their actions. It can encompass a wide range of tactics, including spreading disinformation, manipulating narratives, and disrupting communication channels. However, it has inherent drawbacks. Media warfare could put the public in perpetual war-gear psychologically and emotionally which finally results in undermining the societal values and legal and constitutional obligations. That we need to understand before converting newsrooms into war rooms.
