{"id":3024,"date":"2012-12-13T11:33:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T01:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=3024"},"modified":"2012-12-14T20:40:45","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T10:40:45","slug":"are-social-media-users-now-legitimate-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/are-social-media-users-now-legitimate-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"Are social media users now legitimate targets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Artist:<\/a><\/p>\n

There are lots of interesting dimensions in\u00a0Israel and Hamas\u2019 recent social media war<\/a>. But one of the more pertinent ethical questions arising from this case is whether engaging with or contributing to a militarised social media space constitutes an act of war. If that\u2019s the case, this might mean that those using social media in support of military operations are now legitimate targets.<\/p>\n

According to the Geneva Convention<\/a>, legitimate military targets<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2026 are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whether social media is making an effective<\/em> contribution or not remains to be seen. However, by creating and perpetuating<\/a> a narrative that influences public opinion, social media is contributing to a defined military operation and has become integral to the information and communication space. As a legitimate part of the conflict, social media (and its users) becomes a valid military objective.<\/p>\n

Under the same Geneva Convention Protocol, civilians are protected from military attack \u2018unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities\u2019. So if social media operators or users engage in the conflict by uploading, downloading, sharing, or otherwise adding to content in any way, they then become actors contributing to hostilities. In doing so, civilian social media users lose their protected status and can become legitimate targets.<\/p>\n

But a legitimate target isn\u2019t necessarily a combatant. In the same way that military industry workers in Sudan<\/a> or military-aged males in Yemen<\/a> can be framed as legitimate targets, social media users might be targeted for their use of online platforms in a militarised space.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re now entering the murky waters of the civilian\/combatant divide. And the complex way in which war is waged today means we find militants hiding in plain sight disguised as innocent civilians. The use of technology in warfare is further shifting the civilian\/combatant divide online. My colleague Clint Arizmendi and I have recently discussed the issue of unsanctioned non-state cyber actors (UNCAs<\/a>) and the role they might play in future conflict. Social media users should consider the same. If a country can declare war over Twitter<\/a>, who\u2019s to say that Twitter users can\u2019t fight in the information space of that war? Moreover, who\u2019s to say they shouldn\u2019t reasonably expect to become legitimate targets themselves?<\/p>\n

Chloe Diggins is a research & analysis officer at the Australian Army\u2019s <\/em>Land Warfare Studies Centre. The views expressed are her own and do not reflect those of the Australian Department of Defence or the Australian Government. Image courtesy of artist\u00a0Aaron Wood, Justonescarf Design<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are lots of interesting dimensions in\u00a0Israel and Hamas\u2019 recent social media war. 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