SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND MATHS, CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY

The weaponization of Social Media by the Authoritarian States

Assessment Item 3: Rational Arguments

Overview

Social media is known to be an emerging interactive platform, which has the power to communicate about the rationality of the thoughts, and even relate with the key community and, have to deal with the conflict. The problem of how to spread the miscommunication, disoriented facts, and even sow the seeds of the divisiveness can cause real-world damage and can cause them harm. The authorization state further causes the provocation of using social media as the platform for the violence, persecution, and exploitation (Tucker, 2017). The implication can be cascading and can disrupt social media due to the virtual link of the real-world communities that are complex and even increasing. Due to social media, it can further because of the problem of the inert state differences to go beyond the international borders and results in the low efforts on the peacemaking activities. The efforts even challenge the traditional humanitarian aid and it can further cause the problem of the development and peacebuilding models. As per the article, published “Weaponization of Social Media by the Authoritarian States" published on December 9, 2019, have further identified how there can be the landscape assessment and how the social media has to exercise the drive or incite violence which can result in the overall foundation for effective, and the better ways to collaborate the programming and initiatives which are equally quick to respond and even cause a fragile community (THE WEAPONIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA (December 9,  2019). The main purpose of the assessment is to focus on how the weapon zed social media can lead to the offline conflict and can also lead to the implications over the humanitarian, development along with the peacebuilding organizations — and include the wide technology companies along with the policymakers that can help to understand what is happening and to develop effective responses (Pascale, 2019).

Task 2

Utilitarianism perspective

As per the utilitarian theory, it is defined as the set of actions, which can help in deriving the maximum level of the people that can further benefit. As identified the goal of the theory, is to help understand how social media is good for us, what all information we can share, that can help for the peace-building activities and can help to bring the humanitarian grounds (Bunker, 2019). As the social media, can even help to send the SOS help internationally, for example in Syria, a constant war prevails and the international media and the domestic media have failed to enter the system, to bring the true news for the people, it is the Syrian people who have been constantly sharing the war stories and the turmoil’s of the bomb explosion, terror air strikes activities, that has helped the UN to intervene and even bring a necessary course of action. UN in collaboration with many countries has started to send the troops and the relief aid, as a sign of the gesture for humanity. As identified, utilitarianism helps to understand how it would be a good motive that can help to derive the morality of any actions and it would be an action that can restore everyone’s happiness that is obligated to be treated equally (Bunker, 2018).

The same of the weaponization of the information can be systematic disinformation operations, and can also be on account of the inadvertent propagation that can result in the volatile, asymmetric activities. The problem of the latent capacity can further cause harm to the misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda (Hodges, 2019). To understand how the weaponization of social media can even mass scale, the intervention needs to dynamic and further be interdependent and nonlinear in lien to the factors. For example, the country Pakistan using the platform of social media to spread false rumors of India aiding in the bomb activities across the borders. It would cause the Indian government to retaliate the misinformation and take further action. It can also lead to the cold wars between the two countries, further causing less peace objective. Therefore, the utilitarian approach while using social media should be to lead with the correct information and with the rightful intention. As identified, even though the information presented can be wrong or misleading and it cannot cover up the rightful things, but still, the utmost objective of the social media is to connect the two world and the two individuals, Due to this, the mankind can be restored instead of further bringing the realization and harm to the country (Gounari, 2019). The utilitarian touch is also a way how humans have constantly think of evolving life with better objectives. 

Deontology Perspective

As per the Deontology theory, it is defined as how the good or right can be related to the behavior and how it would draw a contextual meaning to the particular behavior. For example, if the Social media is used, without a proper check on the activities and even not checking misinformation or the disoriented facts, it would further cause the problem of the wars and the panic-stricken economy (Krieg, 2018). It is necessary to intervene with the correct intention, else, not to use Social media at all. The deontology perspective also lies in the system as to not violate the principals and obligate the problems faced due to the impartiality or arouse the exceptions, further causing the implications and the problems. Deontology is the major cause of the problem that results in the complication to understand what is the correct relationship existing between the duty and the morality of human beings. Further, it helps to understand how one should not complicate things and open the perspective of introducing social media and the desired role. Social media should not be sued for the violence, hatred, and even for the misinformation causing disharmony in the society. The principles would be applied in the sense of the power that can help to relate to the potential impact. The problem of the social media is it helps to connect the two individuals, grouses and the world, the main challenge, is how to motivate the authorization state to use the information in a corrective manner. For example, the Taliban’s have the war against the developed nations, as in the past the US has eroded the economy of Afghanistan. It was an effect of the one terror zone that caused further violence in the entire country (Lemon, 2019). Further, if the news of the foreign reporter getting behead is used in social media, it would cause the war-like situation and would further lead to other countries intervening and cutting ties, trades and even blocking the country.

Virtue perspective

As per the Virtue theory, it is defined as the individual’s character as to relate wit the ethical thinking, and it is important to be focused on the rules of the consequences. Further, the role of Virtue can cause the problem of the quality that can help the individual to grow in their life. It defines the key character of moral philosophy and obligates with the set duty in order to derive good results. Social media can be used in extreme situations with the corrective approach. For example, during the time of the "popular protests and the rights”  has helped to share the views on the approval of the law of the LGBT rights or the "Egypt protests in the 2011".  In both cases, the entire world collaborated under the one platform that has helped to involve the spontaneous Acton and relate with the unorganized, action, and even defining the movements. It can help to channelize the propaganda the agenda to collaborate for the one right and the movement. Another example is the "Hate speech by the Myanmar" on inter-communal violence, which has caused the problem of the inter-communal conflict to exists between the two groups(Lemon, 2019).  The purpose was to share the threats and violence against the one said group, to sideline in the country welfare. 

Contract perspective

It is essential to obligate the laws and it is necessary to follow what has been transitioned from one countries law and order. As per the contract theory, this mentions how to have the rules & laws a society that can be helpful to obligate within the place to survive (Lemon, 2019). Further,  importance of responsibility for their society and how the contract theory can help to note the meanings and the obligation to flow the rules, regulations, and legal agreements that can obligate the one particular community, including the state or country. It is also important to enforce the guarantees to protect society and it is necessary to build the relation that can help to channelize the legal agreements. For example, in the case of Russian and Ukraine, Russian have coordinated with the disinformation against the Ukraine country and it has caused the interstate war between the two. Further, on the two countries since then have the legal agreements which were applied by the UN and consecutively followed by the two interfere states (Lemon, 2019).

Conclusion

To conclude, if the “Weaponization of the social media can arise" would have to follow the guidelines as obligated per the purpose of serving and defining the set community, health sector, and even help to understand the disharmony. Social media can used tat can obligate the  emerging interactive platform, which has helped the power to communicate that can obligate to result in the rationality of the thoughts, and even relate with the key community and how there can be deal with the conflict. The problem of how to spread the miscommunication, disoriented facts, and can cause the obligation that can mis representation of the facts. The same of the weaponization of the information would be based on the systematic disinformation operations,  that would be presented in terms inadvertent propagation which would  volatile, asymmetric activities. Due to the latent capacity can further cause harm to the misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda The authorization state further can result in the provocation of using social media that would represent the platform for the violence, persecution, and exploitation. The social media, if not used in the constructive manner can cause the disruption and the cause the problems based on the real-world communities that are complex and even increasing.