Modern information warfare

The aim of the course is to raise awareness among students about issues related to the phenomenon of information warfare conducted in the public space by state and non-state entities. The examples presented during the course will allow students to familiarize with the goals and motivations of ongoing information wars both in the current and historical perspective. Methods of conducting (in particular in the traditional media and social media) and the main actors involved in information warfare will be identified.

The aim of the course is to acquire basic knowledge and skills of efficient analysis of information in the field of international security in the context of a wider phenomenon of information warfare. The theories and doctrines of the information warfare will be presented to facilitate understanding of its mechanisms and allow independent assessment of threats and challenges in this area. The deeper causes and specifics of the information warfares, their mechanisms and methods (manipulation, propaganda, fake news, deep fake) used by countries such as the Russian Federation, the United States, the People's Republic of China and non-state actors, in particular terrorists groups (Al-Qaeda, Daesh), as well as other organizations deliberately using information-warfare tools to achieve their goals are key to understand current threats in the international security domain.

To obtain a degree there is a necessity to dedicate some time (abt 4 hours) beyond the time of the course for homework (studying provided bibliography, preparing the presentation).

1. Allcott, Hunt; Gentzkow, Matthew. “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election”, Working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, No. 23089, 2017.

2. Berinsky, Adam J., “Rumors and Health Care Reform: Experiments in Political Misinformation”, British Journal of Political Science, 2015. doi: 10.1017/S0007123415000186.

3. Gupta, Aditi; Lamba, Hemank; Kumaraguru, Ponnurangam; Joshi, Anupam, “Faking Sandy: Characterizing and Identifying Fake Images on Twitter During Hurricane Sandy”

Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on World Wide Web, 2013. doi: 10.1145/2487788.2488033.

4. Lazer David M. J. et al., “The Science of Fake News”

March 2018. DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2998.

5. O’Donnell Jowett, G.S., , Propaganda and Persuasion. London: Sage Publications, 1992.

6. Pennycook, Gordon; Rand, David G., “Who Falls for Fake News? The Roles of Bullshit Receptivity, Overclaiming, Familiarity, and Analytical Thinking”

May 2018. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3023545.

7. Rojecki, Andrew; Meraz, Sharon. “Rumors and Factitious Informational Blends: The Role of the Web in Speculative Politics”

New Media & Society, 2016. doi: 10.1177/1461444814535724.

8. Rubin, Victoria L.; Chen, Yimin; Conroy, Niall J. ,“Deception Detection for News: Three Types of Fakes”

Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2015, Vol. 52. doi: 10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010083.

9. Rugge F., Mind hacking: Information Warfare in the Cyberage, ISPI, 2018.

• Student possess knowledge about the doctrines of information warfares in different countries and he/she is able to identify and use basic terminology in this field.

• Student is a conscious user of media, including social media.

• He/She has knowledge of the profile of major social media portals involved in the dissemination of false information (fake news) on specific topics.

• Student has awareness of the basic legal instruments and regulations adopted by the European Union allowing proper reaction against spreading fake news (deepfakes) in the public space.

1. Obligatory attendance at classes (two absences allowed).

2. Preparing the presentation about a specific case of "information war".

3. Participation in the discussion during classes.

4. Background activity (necessary reading and preparation for classes at home).