Since 2015 US election and 2016 Brexit referendum upsets, foreign influence on democratic elections has become a hot topic. On John Oliver’s The other day Tonight, a segment explained the simplicity of tampering with voting machines which inspired me to create this post. Before I recieve into how basic and inexpensive it really is to propagate disinformation on the web, I’d like provide some background on why and the way more nations will probably be entering the digital warfare space from the future. Foundations of Geopolitics, a novel drafted through the International Department in the Russian Secretary of state for Defence in 1997, led the way as being a philosophical instructions manual for dismantling and dethroning enemies and super-powers alike, with all the ultimate goal of “Finlandization” like Europe. In accordance with Wikipedia’s summary for the strategy: “Military operations play relatively little role. The textbook advocates a classy program of subversion, destabilization, and disinformation spearheaded through the Russia special services.” In the 2015 US election sufficient reason for a meagre monthly budget of only $1.25M (estimated $15M annually), Russia’s Internet Research Agency might provide the US election towards the Republican Party. In terms of return-on-investment (ROI), Russia spends $36M per Mi-35 helicopter. It is no surprise then, that as Russia gains more territory and influence, its actual military spending is decreasing. Military power is clearly an incredibly costly ongoing expense where destabilization is relatively cheap and plentiful. But how exactly are these claims done? Tactic 1: Discover the Fractures Then Divide & Conquer With all the example of the US, this fracturing tactic was exquisitely executed by fuelling instability and actively supporting all dissident groups simultaneously to inflame tensions and divide communities. Enemies of america have been fanning the flames of white nationalism, gun rights groups, stoking anti-immigration sentiment along with the vilification of refugees and Muslims happen to be most visible. Yet this only scratches the outer lining. But more subtle and vicious domestic attacks have been around in support of fringe and other right-wing religious groups attacking women’s reproductive rights, gay marriage equality, homelessness and mental health. We are seeing generational divisiveness growing between Baby Boomers and Millennials. There is a growing demonization of environmental stewardship (see baseless attacks as well as other trolling of Greta Thunberg) and attacks on democratically-held values normally. Long-term, inter-generational damage through the exploitation of these existing divides is observed inside the gutting of the usa education system, diminishing usage of healthcare for those, ballooning deficits that future generations will probably be saddled down by a few of the long-term consequences to be gone through this surprisingly inexpensive destabilization warfare technique. What were once cracks in a overarching national unity have become red line fractures within an artificially created, cold civil war. Most are now asking the thing that was completed to exploit these existing social divides? Tactic 2: Leverage digital age intersection between behavioural economics, social networking loopholes along with the relative simplicity of internet search engine exploitation
As being a digital strategist and internet-based marketer I've observed that lots of the tactics open to civilians were modified to become weaponized against competing nations. Boosting social networking reach on divisive posts and influencers gave fringe groups the wrong sense that they can held popular yet controversial views. Social media has many loopholes that i often share to my online marketer followings to enable them to read more bang for his or her buck with clients. It’s important to remember social networking platforms’ #1 goal is usually to help keep you on the platform so long as possible so they can make ad revenue. They do this by demonstrating content believe that can keep yourself on just a little bit longer. They are all literally designed at some level to get addictive to us. I discuss in my marketing content various exploitation opportunties that trick these social platforms into thinking your content is viral by fooling the algorithm they depend upon to distribute to users. For instance, with lower than $100 I'm able to buy 10,000 twitter followers, automatically getting 1,000 retweets and favourites on 10 posts. For $100 of paid ads on twitter, you barely have any results. That’s because Twitter under-reports bot activity as a way to convince its shareholders this website engagement is growing. It’s not just Twitter - Facebook, Instagram, Youtube (Google), Snapchat and even Linkedin all have the same fundamental vulnerability. It has become super easy to offer false social proof to just about anything. Humans are hardwired with cognitive biases which can be easily and frequently exploited by social media marketing platforms and look engines to make us feel that the situation is more (or fewer) popular than they truly are. Increasingly we appear to be getting stuck inside our own social echo chambers and believe a lot of people see things exactly like us. There are legitimate grievances around the US economy like job losses from globalization and artificial intelligence causing increased economic inequality. But People in the usa were manipulated and sentiment hijacked by populist narratives to become the victim in the government, elites, experts, Democrats, Mexicans, Muslims, and foreign allies. Tactic 3: Erode Trust & Global Alliances What’s worse, not simply was the goal achieved to destabilize the usa by facilitating the turning of the nation on itself, but also have its internal damage bleed Anti-Americanism into US-global relations. The surprise betrayal of the American-Kurd alliance could have lasting consequences on American credibility, leaving American soldiers and civilians more vulnerable than ever. France, the first and the oldest international ally of the usa, has become questioning simply how much it can rely on america following your abrupt pulling of US forces from Northern Syria with no consultations from NATO partners. As stated by the BBC, “Russia, which sees Nato being a threat towards the security, welcomes france president’s comments as “truthful words.”” It’s challenging to say just when this second Cold War started, one thing is for sure: we’re woefully willing to defend ourselves from disinformation and have learned in order to avoid difficult political conversations.
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