DailyPost 57
INFORMATION WAR/FARE
The battle for your mind is underway. A world war is raging all over and that is not the war on terror, it is the information war. Only people perceptions matter in a broadly democratic world order and they want you on their side.
In the Information Age information has become the biggest casualty, when the basic facts are never settled and battle for perception rages on. Print media gave way to the electronic media and now silently social media has taken over. It’s like owning your own global publishing house.
From outright lying to withholding information, anything that can play around with your rational thought is a tool worth using. Tailor made information is the ultimate weapon of war today, it is not only intended only to influence opinion but to control it. Everyone does this to some extent or the other.
Information, knowledge, facts, data, opinions, perspectives, ideas, concepts & emotions are the tools of the information warriors. Information warfare specialists practice a subtle art, nearly undetectable, while generally being outside the ambit of law.
Being aware of the techniques being used to influence/ control our opinion is half the battle won. Intellectual freedom is our fundamental right in the Information Age.
YOU CAN END UP AS A VICTIM, BEING UNAWARE OF THE COMPLEXITIES OF INFORMATION WARFARE.
Sanjay Sahay