作者/Author(s): P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking 

網站來源/Source: Foreign Affairs 

日期/Date: December 5, 2023 

關鍵字/Keywords: Information Warfare

摘要：

哈馬斯在 10 月 7 日開始對以色列發動常規攻擊的同時，它也在網路空間開始了另一場戰爭，同時發起了實體戰和資訊戰。雙方的分歧在數位領域更明顯，大家都試圖贏得敘事之戰，為其主張與原因辯護。在現代戰爭中，數位科技產品模糊了物理戰場和數位戰場，改變了戰爭的本質。作者將這種現象稱為政治和軍事競爭，以爭取大眾的注意力（被稱為LikeWar）：駭客攻擊使用網路平台的用戶，然後利用他們的按讚和分享，讓有利於自己的內容如同病毒式傳播。大多數國家都承認資訊空間的重要性與日俱增，並正在投資資訊戰行動。哈馬斯與以色列的衝突將資訊戰推向了新的高度和規模，並在全球範圍內煽動不滿情緒，引發新的暴力行為。 

將憤怒武器化 
  • 資訊武器化的模式通常有三個步驟：
  1. 論述戰，通過錯誤和虛假訊息激起民眾憤怒。
  2. 破壞對手描述真相或故事的能力。 
  3. 利用常規力量，迫使對手離線。 ​​​​​​​
  • 在哈馬斯-以色列衝突期間，一波又一波虛假或誤導性資訊淹沒了社交網路平臺。雖然社交媒體演算法設計有助於病毒式傳播，但研究人員發現，引起憤怒的貼文惠比快樂或悲傷的故事吸引到更多的受眾。因此，任何有網路連接的人都可以利用民眾的憤怒力量來挑釁敵手。
  • 與以往的衝突相比，哈馬斯-以色列衝突中的暴力規模之大，讓民眾憤怒情緒更大程度得以擴散。雖然其中也夾雜很多假訊息。舉例來說，親以色列和親巴勒斯坦的支持者都非常關注衝突中的兒童死亡問題，雖然裡面有夾雜假訊息，但還是會引起這些支持者的憤怒。 
  • 來自世界各地的錯誤資訊使政府感到困惑，他們可能不小心被誤導去支持虛假或誤導性的說法。社交媒體平台上充斥的錯誤資訊也讓人們很難發現真相。
Summary: 
When Hamas started conventional attacks on Israel on October 7, it also began another warfare in cyberspace, launching both physical and information warfare simultaneously. The division in the digital realm is evident; each side is trying to win the battle of narratives online and justify its causes. In modern warfare, digital products converge physical and digital battlegrounds, transforming the nature of warfare. The authors call this phenomenon a political and military competition for command of attention (dubbed "LikeWar"): the action of hacking the people who use online platforms and then using their likes and shares to make a preferred narrative go viral. Most states acknowledge the increasing importance of information space and are investing in information warfare operations. The Hamas-Israel conflict drives information warfare to new heights and scales such that it incites grievances and causes new acts of violence globally. 

Weaponizing Anger 
  • The pattern of weaponized information usually has three steps: ​​​​​​​
  1. Narrative competition to provoke outrage through misinformation and disinformation. 
  2. Disrupt the adversary's framing of events. 
  3. Use conventional sources of power to make an adversary offline. 
  • There are waves of false or misleading information that overwhelm social network platforms during the Hamas-Israel conflict. Although social media algorithm design contributes to virality, researchers found that posts eliciting anger reach more audiences than joy or sadness. Therefore, anyone with an Internet connection can use the power of rage to provoke. 
  • The sheer scale of violence in the Hamas-Israel conflict allows anger to diffuse to a greater degree compared to previous conflicts, especially when both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian supporters emphasize child deaths in the conflict despite some information being fake or dismissed as fake. 
  • Misinformation from all parts of the world confuses governments and causes them to endorse false or misleading claims. The flood of misinformation across social media platforms also blankets the truth, making it hard to find. 
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