The world's 'cyber brigades'

Some governments have established teams or hired individuals or organizations to spread propaganda and manipulate information on social media.

Many countries have established cyber armies to advance their agendas and shape public opinion. (Illustrative image: AFP)

In January 2015, the British Army announced that the 77th Brigade would "focus on non-lethal psychological operations using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to counter the enemy." The unit's primary mission was to shape public behavior against terrorist propaganda.

The UK isn't the only country forming "cyber armies" to fight on social media. According to a report published this year by S. Bradshaw and P. Howard from Oxford University, governments around the world are focusing on internet platforms to influence public opinion.

Strategy

The online army employs a range of strategies, tools, and techniques on social media. They frequently interact with users through comments. Some focus on positive messages aimed at reinforcing the government's position. Others focus on attacking dissidents.

For example, Israel requires those holding important positions in the government to always comment politely.Meanwhile, the IRELI youth organization, which is linked to the Azerbaijani government, frequently posts scathing comments. Mexican journalists have accused the online army of harassing them on social media.

In some cases, the comments are not clearly positive or negative. Czech online commentators generally do not post emotional comments but only factual information."The Five-Cent Party"—the name given to China's online army—typically focuses on distracting from or diverting attention from the issue at hand.

Another strategy is to harass a specific individual or organization for several days, often an election opponent or someone with opposing views.Korean Herald,South Korean National Intelligence Service agents launched a series of campaigns against the opposition party during the 2012 presidential election.

Some countries operate official accounts, websites, and apps for political propaganda. Israel has over 350 official accounts in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

Ukraine's army, also known as the "army of truth," operates a website where citizens and volunteers can access and share information deemed truthful. Ecuador launched a website called Somos+ to track internet users who criticize it.

In addition to official accounts, many cyber armies use fake accounts to conceal their identities. These fake accounts can be "bots"—code designed to interact with and mimic users. According to an Oxford report, this strategy is being employed in countries such as Argentina, Azerbaijan, Iran, Mexico, the Philippines, and South Korea.These bots can be used to increase likes and shares, creating the impression that the public strongly supports the propagated viewpoints.

The cyber army can also create its own content to spread messages, such as writing blogs, making YouTube videos, writing fake news, and creating memes. The 77th Brigade made YouTube videos to persuade Muslims in the UK not to go to Syria.

A Russian cyber warrior also runs a prophetic blog about health and relationships, aiming to subtly infiltrate politics into seemingly non-political aspects of life, according to the NYTimes.

Organization

The team of propagandists may be an official unit established by the government, but they can also be hired externally or consist of volunteers.

If affiliated with the government, cyber warriors are officials working for a ministry or branch of the executive. Propaganda agents in Argentina and Ecuador are linked to the presidential office, while the force in Venezuela is under the control of the Ministry of Information.

The government can also hire outside companies to do this. The US hired a public relations firm to develop tools for managing social media accounts. The Internet Research Agency is a private company that has coordinated several social media campaigns for the Kremlin.

There are also several volunteer groups that undertake this work, mostly youth organizations such as IRELI in Azerbaijan and Nashi in Russia. They are usually unpaid but may receive rewards, certificates, or scholarships. In Azerbaijan, volunteering in IRELI is considered a stepping stone to senior administrative roles.

Some cyber warriors are government-appointed and paid social media influencers, such as in India. Because these individuals are not directly affiliated with the government or political parties, their "independent voices" are more likely to resonate with the public.

In some countries, this team is organized into a specific hierarchical system, similar to a company or government. Superiors oversee and approve posted content, while subordinates are assigned daily content tasks.

Chinese and Russian propagandists are given lists of opinions or topics to discuss daily, often related to a specific ongoing political issue. In Serbia, superiors closely monitor the activities of their subordinates. Meanwhile, the team in Saudi Arabia is more loosely organized and less controlled.

Financial resources

The size of cyber armies varies considerably across countries, from groups of 20 people in the Czech Republic to networks of over two million in China.

Ecuador spends an average of $200,000 per contract with private companies. EGHNA, which works for the Syrian government, says the typical project cost is around $4,000.

The authorities also organize training courses for cyber warriors. They open classes or even summer camps. Russian cyber warriors learn English to ensure they write grammatically correct sentences when communicating with Westerners. Young peopleAzerbaijanThey receive training in blogging skills so that their posts reach a wider, more desired audience.

In North Korea, computer-savvy teenagers are trained by the government, and the best are selected for military universities. In 2010, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded an $8.9 million project to study how social media is used to influence behavior and track how users react to online content.

"Cyber ​​armies will continue to grow and are likely to remain a global phenomenon," the Oxford University report concludes.

According to VNE