Social Media as propaganda tool: Challenges & way forward

SALMAN AHMAD

      Social Media (SM); the platforms of social interaction, instituted for sharing ideas, knowledge, awareness, and infotainment have transformed into a kind of battlefield that has blurred demarcation. As a tool of propaganda and disinformation, weaponization of SM has drastically increased in recent years. Instead of attacking militaries and economic infrastructure, hostile forces now target masses in a society, influencing their behaviors, beliefs and diminishing their trust in government and state institutions through cyber operations. The recent flood of propaganda campaigns radically disturbed the socio-political fabric of Pakistani society by indoctrinating and manipulating the public, especially the youth.

Several SM platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are commonly used in Pakistan for social interaction and communication. According to Datareportal DIGITAL 2022 report, 71.70 out of 82.90 million internet users in Pakistan are Social Media users, that is equivalent to 31.5 percent of the country’s overall population. The report suggests that YouTube had 71.70 million, Facebook had 43.55 million, Instagram had 13.75 million, TikTok had 18.26 million, Snapchat had 18.80 million and Twitter had 3.40 million users in Pakistan by January 2022.

     Social Media, on the one hand being used for information, entertainment, and product marketing while on the other hand is subjected to  manipulation,  exploitation  and spreading of   false   narratives.   Politicians,   religious extremists, sub-nationalists and different interest/ pressure groups are using Social Media for their campaigns, mass mobilization & perception management and control.

             Challenges of this hybrid war are multifaceted. On internal front; sub-nationalists, religious extremists & terrorists, disgruntled political forces and other agents of chaos utilize SM as weapon against the state. On external front; Social networking sites have been found projecting Pakistan negatively damaging Pakistan’s image globally. India and other hostile countries are on the forefront to use this tool to harm Pakistan’s interests

            Hostile political forces and sub-nationalist elements are rigorously investing in SM not only for the promotion of their political ideologies but also for their nefarious designs to damage the credibility of state institutions. Political forces (both the left and the right wings) are aggressively using SM for their political narrativization as pressure-building techniques. As a recent case study, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) is tactfully utilizing these social networking sites to attract international and local audiences and amplify narratives. Baloch anti-state anarchists are also utilizing SM not only for the amplification of their anti-state activities but also for indoctrination of Baloch youth.

     EU Disinfect Lab has recently unveiled an Indian-sponsored propaganda network consist of hundreds of Fake News and SM outlets working globally against the interest of Pakistan.  India is also known for utilizing massive monetary resources in western capitals for Social Media propaganda. India has shifted its doctrine from conventional warfare toward cyber and information warfare.

For the purpose, not only state machinery is being used  but  a  huge  IT  industry  has  also been established. According to some journalistic accounts, the Indian Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has established an information warfare agency within DIA since long which is responsible for cyber war and psychological operations along with other IT related advancements.

  Present-day terrorist organizations’ members are the first generation who have grown up with access to the SM and Internet. These platforms also play critical role in the youth indoctrination and recruitment of vulnerable members of society. Terrorists also aggressively use these platforms for spreading their ideas, incitement to violence, cyber terrorism and radicalization to a much wider and boundary-less audience that was previously unimaginable. Terrorists have now obtained the ability to produce rich content on mass level and recruit anonymously.

Challenges for Pakistan to regulate cyberspace are manifold. Pakistani regulators take action against perpetrators who use SM for anti-state activities and try to regulate the platforms according to domestic laws and norms of the society. But the challenge arises when local rules contradict the rules of these SM giants. Despite formal complaints, official correspondence by the authorities and reporting by SM activists, negligible actions taken against the perpetrators.

    Pakistan’s imperfect tech infrastructure, lack of tech institutions, limited number of technological start-ups and venture capital networks place Pakistan at a disadvantageous position while interacting with SM giants. They consider Pakistan as a backward location with limited advantages to warrant market research with the presence of local laws and its impartial implementation. Pakistan’s minimal economic growth provides few incentives for these SM giants to invest, as they believe more in business than activism. The Fragility of policy based administrative and regulatory framework also results in the arbitrary decisions of banning of an overall SM platform.

One of the practical solution Pakistan needs for the meeting Cyberspace challenges is the establishment   of   direct   communication channels with the SM companies using the Pakistani tech industry. State should make liaison with civil society activists and digital rights networks both domestically & globally and make sure active participation in digital rights forums to keep state policy in consistency with international practices.

    Pakistan should hire lobbying firms in western capitals to help in lobbying with SM companies as well as governments for cooperation. The state should also seek cooperation from likeminded nations including China, Turkey and Malaysia for the establishment of regional alliances and using collective resources for lobbying with SM companies.

   To counter the propaganda and disinformation campaigns the Counter-Narrative and Counter-Propaganda Approaches be implemented to push back hostile actors through the tactical and strategic messaging. In societies like Pakistan, the hardliner approach is also effective which is the imposition of strict regulations against social media companies and internet providers and hitting back at propagandists with proactive information influence activities, aggressive lawfare, and kinetic & cyber operations.

State – TTP Truce

JAWAD YOUSAFZAI

The negotiations between government of Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) for peace are in progress mediated by a 50-member tribal Jirga and Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (IEA). So far, a number of meetings held resulting in ceasefire.

   Some positive developments have been observed during multiple rounds of talks that include an infinite ceasefire between the two as long as talks are in progress besides freeing of certain TTP prisoners by the government.

Besides recently, the Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb in a press briefing officially announced that talks with TTP, are being held with government approval and the latter is onboard.

    Despite these positive developments, some analysts are skeptical about the lasting peace and results of these fresh talks with the militants. These analysts once again are predicting failure pre-maturely.

      Given the record of talks in the past, it is true that negotiations with TTP from Baitullah to Noor Wali Mahsud did not bear any positive outcomes and mostly failed, both sides accusing each other of breaking the truce.

On the other hand, some analysts are optimistic about the ongoing talks with TTP primarily due to the involvement of Afghan government of IEA directly & elders, well-known figures from different merged districts of KP.

   There are some other driving factors and pledges made by all stack holders which are encouraging signs such as; Afghan Taliban assured Pakistan that they would

not let their land used against any country and Pakistan made it clear that it will take action against the terrorists if attacks on Pakistan continued from Afghan soil.

    The Afghan Taliban are not in favour of further bloodshed on their soil as they need stability and need to build a positive image for financial aid. The Afghan Taliban have multiple other challenges like dealing with the Islamic State of Khurasan and other militant groups inside Afghanistan, therefore, peace in the region suits them.

    After the fall of Kabul, revenue sources for militant groups specially TTP, are drying which is forcing majority of these militants to surrender and live a normal life with their families.

Afghan Taliban have also imposed some strict restrictions on the fighters of TTP Pakistan, specially carrying weapons in Afghanistan.

Before the fall of Kabul, Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan enjoyed freedom to a good extent, however, now Afghan Taliban being main facilitator in the talks with Pakistan, the former has lost that status.

    Last but not the least; the people of merged tribal districts want peace now. They have suffered a lot during prolonged war on terror including displacements.

    Above all, Peace talks between the government of Pakistan and the TTP is need of the hour because violence and operations are not the only answer. If two decades war in Afghanistan is brought to an end through table tasks, then it can also be replicated for reconciliation with TTP to make Pakistan  a stable and prosperous country.

National integration for political and economic stability in Pakistan

AMIR ULLAH KHAN

National integration is one of the most debatable issues in developing countries like Pakistan. It is a wider concept. However, it can be simply understood as “the bringing of diverse communities with multi-socio-cultural vales, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-sectarian, multi-ethnic, multi-racial with historical orientation and with heterogeneous politico-economic ideologies under the umbrella of one-nation with sense of nationhood”. In the present world, two states – Pakistan and Israel – have been established based on religious ideology, the latter has homogeneous society contrary to Pakistan that is pluralistic in nature.

national integrationIt is herculean task to bring such diverse people under the flag of one nation. The political engineers and constitutional experts in different times and in different societies suggested political and constitutional mechanisms to unite such pluralistic society. The architectures of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan established a federation divided into

and are involved to satisfy their own stakes. They are engaged to make laws for protection of their own interests. Fourth, the political leaders and political parties are also engaged in blame-shift game and none of these is ready to shoulder responsibility for the repercussions of its policies. Fifth, political leaders also rely upon ethnic-based politics to broaden their vote bank. Unfortunately, they lack  national outlook. Sixth, they prefer confrontational politics instead of politics of reconciliation and cooperation based upon democratic principles and meritocracy. Eight, the political leaders are engaged in brainwashing the minds of students in academic institutions especially universities and create hate in their minds against their fellow beings and security agencies of Pakistan for political scoring. Lastly, the political parties lack a sustainable economic policy, which leads them to rely on aid from International Financial Institutions like World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Monetary Fund.

into Federal capital territory, four federating units, and other autonomous regions; and also distributed legislative, financial, and administrative powers between the federal government and federating units with aim to form harmonious relationship between federation and federating units, besides among the federating units themselves; also to protect the rights of the smaller provinces through constitutional and political means.

Various obstacles hinder national integration in Pakistan. First, the political leaders are involved in politicising national and local problems of the common man for no reason except for personal political consideration. Second, they betray common people and exploit their sentiments. Third, they overlook the well-being of their electors

The governments in Pakistan pay the loans but fail to pay the interests on those loans. The government for this reason maximise the tax-base by levying huge taxes on common people which further exacerbate their miseries and also leads to poverty instead of poverty alleviation.

These issues gravely caused political instability in Pakistan. It is high time to take serious notice of the historical political blunders and those of current ones to come out of political and economic turmoil and to make Pakistan politically and ultimately economically stable to establish a true welfare state wherein the common man enjoys political, social, and economic justice. The political leaders need to come on table to design a sustainable economic policy to get rid of  Global Monetary Institutions’ clutches. The government needs to stop issuing fund to legislators because their main job is to legislate for the welfare of the people. Across the board, accountability must be ensured and political victimisation needs to be stopped. The local people must be part of the local projects to address their grievances. The national institutions and organisations like Pakistan Railway, Pakistan International Airline and Pakistan Steel Mill etc need be strengthened and losses must be addressed through comprehensive policies. The political leaders must resolve their issues on the floor of the parliament instead of roads, agitation and confrontation.

The political leaders need to stop politicising the security agencies like Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence because it will damage the morale of Jawans deputed at National borders to safeguard people against external aggression and threat. In the nutshell, it can be said that ‘God does not change the fate of those who do not strive to change by themselves’. Nothing is impossible but strong resolve and will is needed. We therefore need to think and act as Pakistani; and to vow to live and die in Pakistan.

About the Author:

The Author is Chairman, Department of Political Science, Islamia College University Peshawar (ICP),