Perception is reality

Adam Johnston

Oct 21, 2023

In the digital age, warfare has evolved beyond conventional battlefields and weaponry, entering the complex realm of the “5th dimension of warfare,” which complements, and in some ways, given our interconnected world, supersedes, the four classical dimensions of war: land, sea, air, and space.

This complex dimension encompasses activities like cyberattacks, information operations, electronic warfare, and now, propaganda, where narrative battles are fought in the digital domain in an effort to shape public opinion and, thus, affect the trajectory of wars.

As propaganda efforts have transitioned into the digital realm, social media “network swarms” have emerged, with their power to rapidly mobilize the masses for various political purposes, including pressure campaigns on governments.

The convergence of these network swarms and social media is a significant development in the era of global conflict, especially when one side has military superiority, as evidenced recently by the Al-Ahli hospital blast in Gaza and the corresponding worldwide reaction to the initial narrative of an Israeli airstrike that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.

The blast occurred at around 1700 GMT Tuesday, with officials from Gaza’s Health Ministry quickly blaming Israel for the airstrike. Western media outlets and online influencers quickly amplified the story, based purely on the assessment of Gaza’s Health Ministry, which just so happens to be run by Hamas.

Before Israel even had a chance to investigate and respond, these reports spread like wildfire across traditional media and social media and, within hours, galvanized protests around the Middle East and the West in opposition to Israel and, by extension, the United States.

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