Information war
Information & communication is an integral part of our society irrespective of history, geography or politics. Information binds our society together. Semantically speaking information represents - facts of being real and factual physically, semantically and philosophically. We often hear of statements like 'information age' and 'information overload', but most remain oblivious to information war – war against truth with misinterpretation and 'alternative facts'. Information has always faced challenges through misinformation and disinformation promoted by individuals or institutions seeking undivided attention for their own benefits or to distort truth and disfigure others (mal-information). In the present day context, truthful information is in a state of mortal danger with the uncontrolled expansion of the internet which is further aggravated by the recent intrusion of artificial intelligence. But long before the advent of the AI, the biggest challenge for objective information came from the politicians as part of ideological warfare throughout our history in all forms of information communication. And it is unlikely to stop.
Invisible war
Perhaps as a complement to the suspension of USAID, on 15th March the Whitehouse issued an Executive Order shutting down (as opposed to suspension) of United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) which has been financing Voice of America (created 1942), Liberty Radio (created 1950), Radio Free Europe (created in 1953), Radio Free Asia (created 1996), Middle East Broadcasting Network (created 2004), etc. These radio stations broadcast news, views, stories and interviews in many local languages of the regional countries against governments which are not in the good books of the western political philosophy. And by default, these broadcasts were supporting antinational groups of countries such as the then Soviet Union, former Eastern European Communist States, China and Myanmar to name a few. USAGM employs thousands of local journalists and supports works of a wide-ranging local personalities working with the rebels and anti-government protagonists. All Eastern European countries have been free from communism since the 1990s but Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty are still operational. With the shutting down of USAGM in March, Hungary has proposed Radio Free Europe to be funded by the EU. What exactly would be the function of Radio Free Europe today, now that all European countries are free from the communist enemy and have democratic governance? The supporters of USAGM said that 'the decision to dismantle one of 'America's greatest assets' will inflict profound harm on the US image and promotion of democratic values …'
End of radio waves
The Internet has numerous sites with factual information on any given topic. There are many courses offered on the Internet through virtual classes, some with subscription and some for free, which help spread knowledge with ease, without classrooms. It is one of the best features of the Internet benefiting people globally. However, with the global reach of the internet and the addition of AI in the hands of unscrupulous individuals the threats against objective information have become hazardous, especially for young minds. There are internet platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X and thousands of websites flooded with unverified news, messages, stories, etc. to attract people's attention. There are even podcasts where presentations are made by speakers with unverifiable information. People seek these sites for entertainment, music, news and stories. Audiences of these sites are the easy prey for manipulation, especially children with manipulated visuals and fake claims.
Information is not static, which is being exploited by those who want to continue presenting alternative views or at times blatant lies to create confusion with various shades of disinformation. It is an open exploitation of the freedom of information without accountability, granted by the constitution. Majority of the people are busy with their daily chores and may not have enough time to think, examine and determine if what they read, hear and see are factual. The most recent AI generated video clip was that of the Emir of Qatar criticizing President Trump just after his visit to Qatar. People can conclude that it was fake as it is unthinkable for a head of state to attack another head state with such a language. But similar written news and video messages on other topics involving celebrities, politicians and statesmen can be very damaging. The age-old motto – seeing is believing is no more a realistic apothegm.
Information literacy
The Internet is here to stay and so is everyone benefiting from it and everyone who are misusing it. With the AI intruding in our daily life, there are dangers of people's behaviours being sublimely modified resulting in altering people's decision-making pathway by using the algorithm it collects from people's devices. People need a much higher level of information literacy to prevent being exploited and prevent from being harmed. Mis- and disinformation has moved from the political arena to everyday life spreading misleading information on health & diseases, against climate crisis, against countries, against international figures and against people based on social and physical characteristics. Getting the facts wrong could lead us to make bad judgement and may harm self and others. Acquiring adequate information literacy to evaluate the credibility of the information and its source is essential to survive the information overload of the 21st century.
War against children
As the print media is receding people have limited choices but to rely on the internet including in schools for reading materials and homework. Use of the internet and AI has also disrupted our thinking as the software completes our sentences and provides automatic suggestions while we are typing our thoughts and messages. How can we allow this to happen to children in schools? It amounts to deliberately suppressing their natural cognitive growth and also damages children's writing skills (hand writing is already bad enough). It is beyond mis- and disinformation. AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants pose serious dangers as it has the ability to dominate children's cognitive skill/behaviour. Given the spread of plagiarism and the use of AI no one is sure if what we are reading, viewing or listening is authentic. Children will not be able to distinguish what is real and what is fake. AI driven problem-solving will kill children's independent thinking pathways. It is the biggest disservice we are doing to children in the name of freedom of information/speech and advancing technology. The use of the internet and AI in schools amounts to an information war against children. Freedom of information is good but when it is misapplied it jeopardises people's integrity.
The internet is a jungle of unfiltered sea of information. There is an urgent need for education authorities to include the concept of information literacy as an essential component of internet education in all schools. It is to ensure that children develop abilities to understand the information they need and be able to evaluate the authenticity of the sources. With the increase in complexity of the internet environment driven by AI, everyone faces challenges of making the right choice. If the current generation fails to manage and streamline the application of internet resources the next generation could be living in a bubble filled with fake and exaggerated views of our society devoid of morality and ethics, unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
It is vital for politicians, bureaucrats and technocrats to engage in serious dialogue to develop legal mechanisms to put restrictions on harmful contents on the internet on topics related to human health and environment as a matter of priority. There is information on products targeting children and teens which are not based on science but on marketing and profit. Children's health and wellbeing and our environment is more important than the immediate profit of any kind.
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Ramesh, I wish to add that my role model representative from good old time in Yemen has shone light on true meaning of information literacy. Raising awareness on an issue is one thing, doing something to redress it in practice is another. It’s remarkable that UNICEF has always taken its work in information, communication and advocacy seriously to bring home the message that connecting those who are in need with those who can and wish to help is the need of our times. And information literacy taken in letter and spirit should be all about it.
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