Abstract
One of the challenges of the
current United Nations (UN) peace operations is the ‘mis and dis information’
campaign by the armed rebel groups as well as the not-so-friendly host states
to malign the peace operations. Mis and disinformation undermine the trust of
local communities, complicate negotiations, and even fuel conflict. This, in
turn, besides placing the peacekeepers lives at risk, tends to alienate the
local population. This article discusses how unchecked mis and disinformation
campaign can adversely impact the performance of UN peace operations and
transforms Blue Flag from a symbol of security into a target for attack.
Introduction
Peacekeeping is one of the most
effective tools available to the United Nations (UN) in promotion
and maintenance of international peace and security. Unfortunately, in many
endless internal conflicts, political solutions are either absent or not
acceptable to the warring factions, thus, ceding space to the internal or
external spoilers. These kinds of conflicts are prevalent, pervasive, durable,
and insoluble, since the issues of the dispute are emotionally charged. They
give people their sense of belonging through their bond with her or his
community and defining the source of satisfaction for her or his need for
identity.1 Even when an UN peace operation is
launched, sometimes mission’s mandate lacks focus and clear priorities; thus,
present-day peace operations face several intractable challenges. Multifaceted
threats, in the prevailing operational environments, are on the rise,
triggering avoidable injuries and fatalities to the peacekeepers. Another
challenge is delivering on protection mandates and contributing to long-term,
sustainable peace and development. More so, in today’s social media driven environment,
missions face lack of situational awareness, inadequate resources (personnel
and equipment), and sometime UN force’s reluctance to take risks to tackle
these threats. This volatile situation gets further accentuated by Mis and dis
information, which creates an extremely unfavourable environment for UN peace
operations.
In today’s digitally connected world,
significance of information and communication needs no explanation.
Information has real-life consequences as it can prove to be a life-saver –
when it’s authentic and true but, unfortunately, the opposite also happens.
Today’s global youth are digital native and more likely to be connected online
than the rest of the population, making them the most digitally connected
generation in history. In conflict-affected areas, people have little access to
fair and impartial news media. Lack of information in the face of endless
violence and ever evolving uncertainty adds to the frustration and anger on the
perceived failure of UN or other foreign intervention. This eco-system is a
fertile ground for twisting the facts, planting stories against the
peacekeepers, and creating well-crafted disinformation. At the same time, easy
spread of information by social media and messaging applications further aggravates
the issue. This has cumulatively resulted in the rapid spread of wrong
information: misinformation and disinformation. These two words, misinformation
and disinformation, so often used interchangeably, are merely one letter
apart. But behind that one letter is the hidden ‘critical distinction’ between
these confusable words i.e., intent. Unfortunately, it is the peacekeepers who
are experiencing its ill-effects on ground.
Misinformation is ‘false or inaccurate
information’. Examples include rumours, insults, and pranks. On the other hand,
disinformation is deliberate and includes malicious content such as hoaxes,
spear phishing, and propaganda. It spreads fear and suspicion amongst the
population.2 Therefore, disinformation is misinformation
that is intentionally spread, with intent to deceive and mislead; and this
makes disinformation more powerful, potentially destructive and disruptive,
especially in times of crisis, emergency, or conflict. False information about
UN peacekeepers is also nothing new; what is new is the scale at which false
information is being mass-produced and the speed at which it spreads today. A
growing barrage of motivated disinformation has targeted UN peace operations,
particularly the missions in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Mali
(MINUSMA), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and South Sudan
(UNMISS). Disinformation, like peacekeepers are exploiting natural resources,
colluding with armed groups or jihadists, sexual exploitation, and even
supporting foreign troops is part of local campaign. It ultimately transforms
‘Blue Flag’ from a symbol of security into a target for attack and fuels open
violence against UN personnel and partners.
Some unfortunate and reprehensible
instances of grave misconduct by UN peacekeepers, like sexual exploitation and
abuse of vulnerable population, provide ready credibility to the local campaign
and make even the false allegations against peacekeepers more reliable. Advent
of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has further strengthened disinformation by
creating synthetic media, fake photographs, and cloning of voices of known
personalities, called deep-fakes. AI can amplify bias, reinforce
discrimination, and enable new levels of authoritarian surveillance.3 Thus, disinformation makes it more difficult
for peace operations to implement their mandates and endangers the safety of
peacekeepers. In the overall analysis, disinformation is an integral part of
broader challenges that are confronted by the UN peace operations. These may
also include international and regional geopolitics and, most often, prevailing
tense relationships with the host-state governments and populations.4
Case
Studies
Disinformation
and misinformation campaigns have repeatedly targeted the UN peacekeepers in
Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). These campaigns run from inside as well as outside the countries,
increased in frequency and scope since 2022, endangering contingents, and
jeopardising the missions’ ability to implement their mandates.5 To illustrate the impact of misinformation and
disinformation, some cases from the ongoing UN peace operations are as under:
n In
the DRC, the spread of rumours and false information about the Ebola virus
contributed to mistrust and violence against healthcare workers in 2019. “Fake
news and misinformation about Ebola, Covid-19, and the vaccines that can curb
these deadly diseases were rife and there was a lot of mistrust within
communities” Yakubu Mohammed Saani, Country Director of Action Aid DRC
explained.6 Few rumours were like- “White people came with Ebola”, though they were
around before Ebola. “You white people come for your own interest, to make
money off Ebola”.7 “People who died from Ebola are deliberately
being killed in treatment centres”. This type of misinformation contributed to
more than 130 attacks on healthcare facilities, during which dozens of
people were killed.This
made it difficult for UN peacekeepers and other organisations to work with the
local communities to prevent the spread of the disease.
In
2022, consequences of misinformation and disinformation campaign by locals led
to events of 25-26 July 2022, as narrated by Bintou Keita, Special Representative
of the Secretary-General (SRSG), DRC during a seminar at the USI in October
2022. Angst against the peacekeepers was created through a sustained
disinformation about the UN role. The local attack on the UN facility resulted
in the death of at least 15 people in a violent demonstration in the North
Kivu, DRC. Those killed included two Indian police officers and a Moroccan
‘blue helmet’. MONUSCO came under local criticism for its perceived inability
to stop fighting in the conflict-torn East DRC, whereas peacekeepers are in the
region to protect civilians. The SRSG added, “Fear, anxiety, and trauma are all
having an impact on how we carry out our mandates”.8
n In
Mali, a fake letter alleging that peacekeepers were collaborating with armed
groups was posted on Facebook and it went viral on WhatsApp.9 Rumours and conspiracy theories about the UN
peacekeeping mission contributed to anti-UN sentiments and attacks against
peacekeepers. Thus, it has become more challenging for the UN mission to gain
trust and cooperation of local population as well as making their vital task of
protecting civilians that much difficult. Now Malian Government has asked UN to
withdrawn Peacekeeping Mission on the pretext that mission has failed to
achieve its mandate. What happens to the civilians in Mali after the mission
pulls out at the end of 2023? There are proponents of hiring Private Military
Contractors (PMC) to protect civilians.
n In
the CAR too, rumours and false information about the intentions of peacekeepers
contributed to anti-UN sentiments and attacks against peacekeepers. This made
it more challenging for the UN mission to build relationship with the local
community and effectively carry out their mandate. In 2021, France suspended
financial support and military cooperation with the CAR, accusing it of being
complicit in a Russian-backed disinformation campaign targeting France’s
presence in Africa.10
n In
South Sudan, social media platforms have been used to spread false information
and hate speech, contributing to the escalation of violence and displacement of
civilians. The spread of false information has also undermined the credibility
of the peace process and made it more challenging for the UN mission to mediate
between the warring parties. The Government of South Sudan is also to blame for
the same. A free and vibrant media is one of the best ways to combat fake news
and hate speech but the South Sudanese Government had created a near blackout
of independent journalism in the country. Unfriendly news outlets were closed,
journalists arrested and intimidated.11 This allowed outside influence through
Facebook posts.
Managing
Information Landscape
Disinformation
is a significant challenge to UN peacekeeping missions as it undermines the
trust of local communities, complicate negotiations, and even fuel conflict.
New technologies have totally revolutionised the information landscape and
today, these channels of communication and influence constitute both, critical
assets and significant challenges for missions. Thus, information management
has to be an integral part of all mission planning, execution, and evaluation.
It remains a challenge for mission leadership, to proactively mitigate and
contain mis- and dis-information risks. To succeed, UN peace operations need to
be equipped with the necessary strategies, competencies, and resources. In the
multi-faceted approach to tackle mis- and dis-information, ‘Training and
Strategic Communication’, both, at operational and tactical level, are
considered most important. In this regard, following steps are being taken:
n Training. Peacekeepers are being
trained to identify and counter disinformation. For this they must be aware of:
- Host
nation’s media landscape, its politicisation, polarisation and propaganda
machinery.
- Providing training to journalists and
civil society organisations on how to recognise and report disinformation.
- Use of technology assists
peacekeepers, but it has its own limitations – no tool available to analyse
Arabic, due to variety of dialects.12
- Perception management plays a major
roll to counter disinformation. In 2006, after war, Security Council enhanced
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) mandate and increased the
number of peacekeepers to a maximum of 15,00013;
in actual from 2000 to 13000. This enhancement was perceived as interference of
the west in Arab Countries, which was not acceptable. Thus, mission leadership,
at all level, must clear perception of local population about
responsibilities/tasks of mission by highlighting mandate.
- Though
it’s a very important issue, missions have limited resources and capabilities
to counter.
- UN to provide guidance on training,
including collecting and sharing best practices with troop contributing
countries.
n Strategic Communication.
Disinformation is not merely a technical or tactical issue but more of a
political and strategic issue that requires the proactive attention of mission
leaders. It requires a mission-wide coordinated approach and could be mitigated
by building missions’ strategic communications capacity. Communications, which
are credible, accurate, and human-centred, is one of the best and most
cost-effective instruments to counter disinformation. While we live in an
increasingly digital world, direct person to person communication often remains
the most powerful way to build trust and counter false
narratives. Missions must conduct town-hall style gatherings in local
communities with village elders, young people, women groups, and others to
learn, and to listen to provide them with accurate information, to dispel
rumours, and build trust. It strengthens the understanding amongst the local
population of our missions and mandates and, in turn, strengthens peacekeepers’
understanding of the local population’s concerns, grievances, expectations and
hopes. But, to be effective, it must be grounded in evidence, based on verified
data, open to dialogue, rooted in storytelling, and delivered by credible
messengers. UN missions must also publicise its success stories at local,
regional and national level. The missions should also work with local media and
civil society organisations to promote accurate reporting and educate the
public about the mission’s objectives and activities. In short, it must be
integrated into planning cycles and risk management efforts to promote
successes, manage expectations, and help address misinformation, disinformation
and hate
speech.14
n Fact Checking. Accurate and timely
information is essential for decision making and successful achievement of the
mission’s objectives. Missions to establish fact-checking mechanisms to verify
information before disseminating it, to ensure that the information shared is
accurate and reliable.15 Missions must maintain transparent
communications with the public to help build trust and dispel false rumours and
misconceptions.
n Partnership. The missions should
partner with host government, civil society organisations, local media, and
other stakeholders to promote accurate information and counter disinformation.
n Monitoring and Reporting. The
missions should monitor and report on disinformation and misinformation
campaigns, which helps to raise awareness and builds resilience against such
tactics. To ensure effectiveness, we must adjust as necessary and adapting our
strategy to the tactical necessities of the specific contexts we operate
in.
n Accountability. The missions to
enforce measures to hold those who spread disinformation accountable, including
through investigations and legal action.
Conclusion
Both
at headquarters and on the ground, UN personnel are attempting to address
disinformation against the UN. Nonetheless, the scale at which this challenge
has grown far exceeds the UN ability to respond. They need greater capacity and
coordination to monitor and analyse disinformation, both online and offline.
They need more streamlined approval processes so that they respond to
disinformation more quickly. In the longer term, they need to shift toward
preventive approaches, including proactively reshaping narratives about the UN
and contributing to a healthier information environment through support to
local journalists. At the mission level, adopting a whole-of-mission approach
across uniformed and civilian components to foster a networked communication in
the field will be beneficial. For this, military, police and civilian officers
skilled in strategic communications be considered or trained for.
Thus, addressing disinformation is not
solely a task for missions’ leadership but effectively tackling disinformation
requires putting it in the broader political context and understanding its
drivers - a task that falls ona broad array of actors within and outside of the
UN, both at UN HQ and mission leadership and host govt.
Endnotes
1 David Bloomfield
and Ben Reilly (1998). Characteristics of Deep-Rooted Conflict; In Democracy
and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators. Peter Harris and Ben Reilly
(Ed.).
https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/democracy-and-deep-rooted-conflict.pdf
2 UNHCR (2022). Using social media in
community-based protection: a guide. Retrieved from:
https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Factsheet-4.pdf
3 https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15359.doc.htm
4 Albert Trithart (2022). Disinformation against
UN Peacekeeping Operations. Retrieved from
https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2212_Disinformation-against-UN-Peacekeeping-Ops.pdf
5 Albert Trithart
(2022). Disinformation against UN Peacekeeping Operations.
6 ActionAid (2021). Women’s groups lead fight
against misinformation as Ebola returns to DRC; from:
https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/women-s-groups-lead-fight-against-misinformation-ebola-returns-drc
7 Sally Haydon (2019). How Misinformation Is
Making It Almost Impossible to Contain the Ebola Outbreak in DRC; Time, USA,
June 2023.
8 USI (2022). Proceedings of the Seminar.
9 https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/un-stresses-key-communications
-role-to-combat-disinformation. July 2022.
10 Sarah Elzas
(2021). France accuses CAR of complicity in disinformation campaign, suspends
support;
https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20210608-france-accuses-car-of-complicity-in-disinformation-campaign-suspends-support-russia-wagner-mercenaries-social-media-politics-protests
11 Justine Lynch (2017). In South Sudan, Fake News Has Deadly
Consequences. Accessed from:
https://slate.com/technology/2017/06/in-south-sudan-fake-news-has-deadly-consequences.html
12 https://aclanthology.org/W16-4809.pdf
13 https://unifil.unmissions.org/40-year/
14 https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2022/07/open-debate-on-strategic-communications-in-peacekeeping-operations.php
15 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10796-022-10296-z
@Major General PK
Goswami, VSM (Retd)
is Deputy Director General and Head UN Cell at the USI of India. He is an old
peacekeeper with UNAVEM. He is credited with six monographs on various UN
Peacekeeping themes and a book “The India and UN Peacekeeping: Through the
Prism of Time”, which was released by Mr Jean Pierre Lacroix, Under Secretary
General for Peace Operations, United Nations, on 07 Oct 2022 at USI.
Journal
of the United Service Institution of India, Vol. CLIII,
No. 633, July-September 2023.