Conceptualization of information warfare in the context of the development of modern social networks

Sokolova Arina Vadimovna Student, Department of comparative political science, MGIMO University 76 Prospekt Vernadskogo str., Moscow, 119454, Russia sokolova.rina3@gmail.com

Information warfare using political propaganda at the present stage of the development of relations between states in the international arena is one of the most common ways of waging wars and achieving political goals.

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the growing use of political propaganda in the modern information and increasingly digitalizing world. The connection between war and propaganda has been considered inseparable since the time of G. Lasswell's research, and J. Baudrillard in the essay "There was no War in the Gulf" ^[1] Using the example of the American military campaign in 1991 in the Persian Gulf, he demonstrated the increasing influence of the digitalization factor on military propaganda, thereby declaring the arrival of a new era in information wars and political propaganda.

The body of literature available on this issue consists of works that reveal the specifics of conducting an information war. Among the authors on whose approaches and positions this study is based to one degree or another are E. G. Ponomareva ^[2], V. V. Barabash ^[3], V. V. Kihtan ^[4], E. A. Sergeeva ^[5], M. Castels ^[6], J. Nye ^[7], J.. Arquilla ^[8].  The works of these scientists laid the scientific foundation for the analysis of the concept of information warfare; allowed us to identify the specifics of information warfare technologies, as well as the possibilities of using social networks as tools of political struggle.

The main purpose of this study is to conceptualize in the works of Russian scientists the basic concepts for analyzing the use of social network technologies in political propaganda and information warfare. To achieve this goal, the following tasks must be completed:

?       To operationalize the concepts of "information warfare" and "political propaganda";

?       To study technologies and methods of political influence, factors and stages of development of political propaganda;

?       To describe the role of social networks as tools of political propaganda.

The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is primarily represented by the works of G. Lasswell ^[9], W. Lipman ^[10], J. Dewey ^[11], whose works helped to identify the characteristic features of political propaganda as a means of influencing certain groups of people using information and psychological methods.

The concept of the public sphere developed by Y. Habermas ^[12] and the model of media communications developed within the framework of this concept have become extremely important for research. This model makes it possible to systematize and predict media impact technologies, including traditional media and digital media.

The constructivist approach to the study made it possible to analyze modern media, which act as a means of constructing the reality of world politics by states and non-state actors, as well as as actors of this reality. The development of information technologies allows us to talk about the formation of a global information space that functions in accordance with its internal logic. The interaction and mutual influence of various media of various levels and formats, broadcasting socio-cultural attitudes and visions called "social constructs", underlies its functioning. 

In the course of the study, a critical conceptual analysis was used to study the features of the conceptualization of the concepts of information warfare, political propaganda and social networks in the works of various scientists, as well as the systematization of specific technologies of political propaganda in social networks.

The scientific novelty of the research lies in the theoretical and methodological elaboration of the analysis of information wars and the conceptualization of basic concepts for subsequent research.

Information warfare

The emergence of the term "information warfare" dates back to the end of the Cold War. Since the US Department of Defense faced new tasks, their implementation was designed to ensure the conduct of an information war. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Defense adopted the "Unified Information Operations Doctrine" to clarify the relationship between information operations and information warfare. In the new definition, an information operation was defined as: "measures taken to prevent the collection, processing, transmission and storage of information by enemy information systems in the defense of their own information and information systems; information warfare is an operation conducted in order to gain an information advantage over the enemy" ^[13].

The information operation is aimed at controlling one's own information space, ensuring the security of access to one's information, using information about the enemy, destabilizing its information systems and disrupting the information flow.

Owning enemy information is a way to enhance our own capabilities, weaken or counter the capabilities of the enemy, and protect our own assets, including information. Information warfare consists in the directed impact on the information functions of the enemy, while protecting their own interests and disorienting him. From the definition of information and information functions, information warfare can be defined as: "any action to protect our information functions, regardless of the means" ^[14].

Information warfare is not the goal of a state's foreign policy, but rather a means to achieve goals. The achievement of the goal in the conduct of information warfare occurs in the following directions:

1) Strategic attack;

2) interception of initiative;

3) destructive effects;

4) operational and strategic camouflage;

5) deception;

6) physical destruction of infrastructure.

V. V. Barabash gives the following definition of the term "information war": "a form of virtual conflict, the goals of which are to damage information processes, systems and resources, affect the psyche of citizens who are not involved in active (combat) actions, as well as using resources to their advantage by forming public opinion" ^[15]. This definition of civil war suggests that one of the tasks of conducting a civil war is to split civil society.

A. A. Azaryan notes the importance of information warfare in the confrontation between states in the modern period ^[16]. It is information, as the researcher emphasizes, that becomes the main means of implementing the foreign policy of states. From the point of view of V. V. Kihtan, information warfare as a phenomenon shows the absurdity of conducting military operations ^[17].

N. I. Martishina identifies such means of conducting information warfare as:

1) fakes;

2) propaganda;

3) provocation ^[18].

The use of such means contributes to the fact that the people become disoriented, as a result of which it becomes necessary to establish state control over their own population. As a method of conducting information warfare, Ya. I. Streletsky calls pushing the population to revolt and speak out against the country's leadership. This is achieved through psychological influence. The consequences of such an impact, according to M. G. Fedotova, are:

1) the emergence of a destabilizing situation in the state;

2) the destruction of the stability of the state;

3) the decline in the authority of the state ^[19].

The danger of information warfare lies in the fact that with the help of certain methods of influence associated with psychological pressure, dangerous social phenomena arise in society that lead to the destruction of society and the state from within.

Thus, the term "information warfare" arose for the purposes of U.S. foreign policy after the end of the Cold War. Information warfare is a means of achieving the goals of the state's foreign policy. The main goal of the cold War is the destruction of civil society from within with the help of information that is fake and through which psychological pressure is exerted on the population of another state.

Technologies and means of political propaganda

Waging an information war involves a psychological impact on society with the help of special technologies and means.

The main technologies of information warfare are:

1) Propaganda ? the use of media to disseminate information that supports a certain political or ideological position;

2) Counter?propaganda - countering the spread of alternative positions in its information space through restrictions or criticism;

3) Disinformation is the dissemination of false information that does not correspond to reality ^[20].

These information warfare technologies have certain means of implementation, which include:

1) the use of prejudices, misconceptions, as well as various lexical and phonetic techniques. The purpose of using such means is incorrect negative or positive emotional coloring with the appearance of contempt for the opposing side;

2) distortion of statistical data;

3) selectivity in relation to those events that are covered by various media resources;

4) a link to the anonymity of sources;

5) confirmation of the above facts by expert opinions.

When conducting an information war, we are talking about a certain impact on the consciousness of the population through various communication channels.

A special role in the conduct of information warfare is given to the means of language. Characterizing the means of language as an instrument of information warfare, the following types can be distinguished:

1) language cliches that constantly accompany a statement about some object;

2) The use of evaluative vocabulary, which expresses both an assessment and one's own opinion about an event or phenomenon;

3) The use of borrowed words and expressions, on the basis of which a new understanding of the phenomena arising in society is built ^[21].

 The effectiveness of the use of language tools in the conduct of information warfare is explained by the fact that the consciousness of society has a need to compensate for information overload.

Thus, the main technologies of information warfare are propaganda, counter-propaganda, and disinformation. These technologies are implemented using various means. Language tools play the greatest role in the effectiveness of information warfare.

Social networks as a tool of political propaganda

The prevalence of information services and the constant growth in the number of users of social networks indicates that social networks have recently become one of the most active means of waging an information war. The increase in the amount of visual information leads to the fact that users of social networks involuntarily analyze the event through its coverage in the news channels of the Internet and social networks.

It is social networks that are the key tool of information warfare. With the help of social networks, such means of information warfare as:

1) submission of false information;

2) the use of concepts that do not correspond to reality;

3) the use of facts whose content is distorted;

4) the conclusion of causal relationships that are unreliable ^[22].

Users of social networks are vulnerable from the point of view of manipulative influence due to the fact that publications cannot be verified for authenticity. Such a feature of social networks as their openness to the exchange of opinions and points of view on certain issues indicates that it is these opinions that can act as a means of manipulation in relation to people's consciousness. The fact that social networks are currently a key means of waging an information war is also evidenced by such factors as a large number of users, lack of control over virtual space, and imitation of real communication by virtual.

Among the manipulative methods of conducting information warfare, E. A. Kuyantseva notes the concealment of important information, the manageability of comments from the administrators of information channels ^[23].  Also, among the methods of manipulative influence, the researcher notes a confusion of concepts. The essence of this method is that a certain message can take on different meanings. The criteria for this will be the purpose of transmitting this message. In addition, it should be noted such a method of manipulation as choosing a positive or negative effect from a certain message, although a certain context is already embedded in the message itself. This effect is defined by the concept of "spiritual bonds", which means the assimilation of information on an intuitive level without any directly expressed meaning.

The impact in the process of information warfare is also carried out by increasing negative information in news content.

Thus, at present, it is social networks that are one of the key tools of information warfare. This is facilitated by the following factors: a large number of users, lack of control over the virtual space, imitation of real communication by virtual.

As a result of the conducted research, the basic concepts for analyzing the use of social network technologies in political propaganda and information warfare were conceptualized in the works of Russian scientists.