The developments in information technology have created various new fronts for modern states. Countries now began to use information as a tool to pursue their political goals not only domestically but also in their international relations by promoting its own soft image or by destroying the image of the others. Political parties use state media and social media sites to campaign for the elections. pressure groups use these platforms to carry out propaganda.
To secure their national interest, states try to defend their stance by spreading information on particular issues such as human rights, terrorism, minority rights etc. through online media outlets, websites, news agencies etc. On the other hand some states also us a tactic called "disinformation" to form a public opinion against the enemy state in the international community.
This phenomenon is not new in global politics, it was used by Nazis in the 1930s in the form of fake military plans to have them stolen by foreign governments so they can be misled. Later the tactic was used by Soviet KGB. Modern states like Russia, US, China, Israel, India are considered leading players of information warfare. One such example is revealed in a report of a Brussels based research organisation "EU DisinfoLab."
The organization in its report named "Indian Chronicles" unveiled the disinformation used by India against Pakistan through various fake media outlets, websites, NGOs and think tanks to undermine Pakistan.
This not only poses threat to the national security of the states but also creates difficulty to distinguish between the correct information and disinformation because it is propagated through the websites that seem legitimate to common people. With the increasing dependence of people on online sources for information, it becomes easier for different actors to mislead readers. In such an age, one needs to understand the phenomenon and know the ways to find the truth.
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