Growing accessibility to information is a great facility in this age of cyber connectivity.
But; it is posing greater challenges too! Laying hands on authentic information is becoming difficult! Disinformation and misinformation are the looming challenges being faced in cyber domains. Rapid flow of wrong information may lead to disastrous consequences. Mark Twain rightly pointed out “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”. Rapidity involved in digital flow of information has multiplied the impact of negativity floating with fabricated stuff.
Propagandists portray false impressions with persistent hammering of fabricated stuff. Intense propaganda often portrays the ‘oppressor’ as ‘victim’. This strategy is being used extensively by the terrorists, pressure groups, anarchists and even the states like India and Israel. Let’s recall the report titled ‘India Chronicles: Deep Dive into a 15 Years Operation Targeting the EU and UN to Serve Indian Interests’; released by EU Disinfo Lab in December 2020. It revealed shocking facts about Indian state sponsored disinformation network. Fake news, unauthentic sources and fictious platforms were weaponized to fulfill the malicious interests of Indian State. Racists and ethno-lingual supremacists are also using this tool to fuel the public sentiments. Previous year, the UK witnessed violent riots due to provocative disinformation campaign on digital platforms after stabbing of three young girls in Southport Town.While battling hardcore terrorist groups; Pakistan is also encountering the complex challenge of propaganda.
Proxies and terrorist groups, backed and financed by archrival India, are trying to create confusion among masses on issues of sensitive nature. Negative portrayal of state and its institutions is the central idea behind all disinformation campaigns. Ironically, seepage of this venomous tendency in political discourse has damaged the already weak morality standards. Current political polarization in the country is one of the worst outcomes of digital disinformation. Former ruling party PTI utilized the strength of her social media teams to beat the political rivals. Subsequently elements of bias, fake news, abusive language and provocative rhetoric completely compromised the sense of objectivity. Party leadership and sincere workers are now facing the consequences of rhetoric based disinformation. Ongoing legal case in a UK court against fugitive you-tuber Adil Raja is an eye opener episode. A retired official of intelligence agency filed a defamation suit against the you-tuber, who happens to be a proclaimed offender as per verdict of a Pakistani court.
Under trial you-tuber is one of those characters who hijacked the narrative of former ruling party with propaganda, hate speech, instigation, disinformation and blatant lies. Propagandist is still pretending to be a victim and minting money in the form of donations for trial. As the legal scrutiny would take due course; it is about time for the masses to exercise caution in forming opinions basing upon unauthentic sources. Distinction must be made between baseless accusations and fact based objective analysis. Trial of proclaimed offender in the UK court is enough of evidence that foreign based dubious characters should not be trusted to resolve the sensitive national issues.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Rawalpindi
