‘Every nation facing hybrid warfare through social media’

• A two-day training workshop was held on challenges of hybrid warfare
• Speakers said hybrid war is being fought by almost all nations
• They urged the public to be wary of hybrid warfare

LAHORE: A two-day training workshop titled ‘Hybrid Warfare: Challenges and Way Forward”’ concluded on Friday at Aiwan-e-Iqbal to build capacity through knowledge and research to address challenges of hybrid warfare.

The workshop was organized by the Press Information Center (PIC). Speakers said that the undeclared ‘hybrid war’ is being fought by almost all nations, but our society is repeatedly triggered by its emotional attachments and people blindly follow unverified posts, fake news and trends.

They added that hybrid warfare, often referred to as fifth-generation warfare, is a concept born out of the blurring of lines between war and peace, with sophisticated information and communication tools.

The speakers said that war is no longer declared in hybrid scenarios but is an evolving process that involves economic manipulation, diplomatic pressure, media propaganda, proxy insurgency, cyber attacks, and the manipulation of a country’s civilian population through all forms of media.

The speakers further said that the term ‘hybrid warfare’ has been introduced in the 21st century as a method of war. This theory uses unconventional methods of warfare, such as propaganda, deception, sabotage and other non-military methods.

During the workshop, participants discussed the history of hybrid warfare. Experts explained nations were dominated by capturing the mindset of the people and creating a strong narrative through social media tools.

“Every person, who owns a mobile phone, is a broadcaster, sharing and following posts without verification is harming society. The enemy is mobilizing people for their nefarious purposes by throwing some catchy words and posts, but unfortunately, our people blindly copy and create trends,” the speakers opined.

The speakers said that in the past, Indian hackers tried several times to spread anarchy and agitation in Pakistan, but national institutions thwarted their plans through counter-attacks. They urged the public to be wary of these elements of hybrid warfare.

During the conclusion, Shafqat Abbas, Director General of Press Information Department, Lahore, said the aim of the training workshop is to increase the capacity and facilitate the media persons to deal with the challenges of hybrid warfare.

He said, “The enemy is trying to create provocation and uncertainty among us. Every nation faces the same challenges, but we will not lose hope as the Holy Quran says, ‘So surely with every difficulty comes ease’.

A question and answer session was also held during the workshop while more than 40 journalists from various media groups participated. He also distributed certificates to the participants.

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