The relationship between war and information is complex. To make different decisions in war, more and more reliable and in-depth information is needed; but credibility is sacrificed to a large extent when delivering information about war to our people or to the enemy and enemy supporters. Due to competitive news channels running 24 hours a day, unfettered social media handles and easy deepfake technology, information about war is being contaminated on a large scale.
During times of conflict, the public wants more and more reliable information; taking advantage of this, a crop of half-truths, rumours and false information is sown in haste. The responsibility of not allowing public opinion to be influenced in this bad way is as much on the government and the war machine as it is on the general public. In the first Gulf War of 1990, the United States made a group of news media its war partner, giving birth to a new type of war journalism called "embedded journalism" or "dependent journalism".
The proper use of information is a key issue in war or any armed conflict. Even in the recent India-Pakistan conflict, the reality of how difficult and challenging it is to fight an information war is now being seen. The war at the front is being fought by our armed forces. But in the information war, all of us citizens are also digital soldiers. Therefore, we should also fight this information war on social media or any other platform with sufficient preparation and seriousness. It is necessary to understand our national duty to check the truth without believing in false information and rumours.
