Ajay Singh

In an era of uncertain warfare, or warfare in the grey zone, the boundaries are blurred. Instead of an all-out war, conflict is waged in different forms by both state and non-state actors. Wars between nations are likely to be skirmishes or limited conflict. Insurgency and Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LICO) do not have timelines, or even clear-cut winners or losers.

In today’s conflict, the victor may be the one who has succeeded in propagating his narrative and created the perception of victory. In this battle of perception, there is no tool more effective than social media. Today there are 2.2 billion internet users -- over a fourth of the world’s population. Facebook has more users than the entire population of China, making it the single most populous community in the world. Over one billion posts and tweets and over 300 million hours of video are downloaded daily. The most common instrument worldwide is the mobile phone which provides instantaneous news, communication and information and is held by over a third of the world’s population.

The mass appeal and instant reach of social media enables it to be used or misused alike. How security forces use this medium effectively and prevent its misuse by adversaries is one of the major challenges facing us today.

Social Media and the Arab Spring

The power of social media was first visible in the Arab Spring. Here, social media platforms caused an uprising that galvanised the population of an entire region. The revolution began when a video of the self-immolation of a fruit-seller Mohammed Bouaziz in Tunisia went viral over Facebook and YouTube, sparking nationwide protests. The revolution transcended borders through social media and soon reached Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Saudi, Yemen, Syria and other Arab states. Calls to overthrow leaders arose spontaneously and went viral on social media networks. The first ‘Facebook Strike’ -- a gathering of over 70,000 people in Tahrir Square in Cairo, was engineered almost completely on Maktoot and Mazzika -- the Egyptian version of Facebook.

The mobile phone was the most powerful weapon in this battle. It tweeted, passed messages, sent photos and videos on social media platforms with real-time updates. Google maps flagged the locations of demonstrations and guided protestors to the sites, also informing them of the whereabouts of security forces. The mass movement generated on social media resulted in the deposing of three Presidents, the killing of another and the rise of a movement across the Arab world. It is no surprise that the leaderless uprising of the Arab Spring is often called the ‘Facebook Revolution’.

Use of Social Media on the Battlefield

The immense potential of social m