Why psy-ops and censorship cannot survive in IT age

By J.S. Tissainayagam

This week saw the government imposing a ban to "print, publish, distribute or transmit" material pertaining to proposed military operations or arms procurements, and the "deployment of troops or personnel." But as suddenly as it was imposed so was the ban withdrawn.

The sudden imposition of censorship and its equally abrupt withdrawal is part of a series of interventions by the government to control the media. Human rights organisations condemn these as moves as stifling free reporting of the war. Similarly, the international community has condemned the LTTE for circumscribing media freedom and feeding the public one-sided news and commentary in the areas under its control.

Despite such criticism, neither the government nor the LTTE has let up controlling the media, especially on matters military. Needless to say, this is not new. In Iraq, reports describe the elaborate plans the Pentagon had in place to doctor news about war and peace issues even before invading troops were actually on the ground.

The reason for this is simple. In this age where the production and consumption of news is becoming democratic, the role of information is crucial in influencing public perceptions. This is especially so in insurgencies where established state forces are in conflict with guerrilla organisations. "In irregular (guerrilla) warfare, superiority in the physical environment is of little value unless it can be translated into an advantage in the information environment," says Professor Lawrence Freedman. (The Transformation of Strategic Affairs, IISS 2006)

The importance of influencing perceptions in civil conflicts such as what we have in Sri Lanka is important because both the government and the LTTE are competing with each other to strengthen their political legitimacy in the public they control, while at the same time trying to expand control into areas which they perceive are inimical to their authority. One way of accomplishing this is to portray oneself as the sole protector of the civilian population, while portraying the other as the villain, destroyer or terrorist. This is especially so because the Sri Lankan state demands the adherence of its citizens as a matter of course, while the LTTE, as any guerrilla organisation, knows it needs public support and sustenance (the fish in the sea) for its existence.

Both parties realise that strengthening their legitimacy and undermining the enemy would depend on how they manipulate the perceptions of the public. Therefore, modern warfare is a contest between competing ideas as much as it is between contending physical power. To reach the mind of the enemy, information spin doctors use various methods including that of psy-ops.

Psy-ops or psychological operations have had a long history, but has become sharpened today in the context of civil wars in different parts of the world. Psyops are an important component in the branch of military science known as military operations other than war (MOOTW), a doctrine developed by the US as part of its response to irregular warfare because much of that type of warfare is fought by militaries by means other than shooting at each other.

Psy-ops are defined by Wikipedia as constituting "a planned, systematic process of conveying messages to and influencing selected target groups. The messages conveyed by military psy-ops are intended to promote particular themes that can result in desired attitudes and behaviors." Contending forces, therefore, use psy-ops extensively "to promote particular themes that can result in desired attitudes and behaviors."

In a recent interview, Government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella was quite candid about it: "We are running counter propaganda, when false propaganda is being spread by the LTTE. Therefore it is correct if somebody says that the MCNS (Media Centre for National Security) is cleaning the government forces sometimes," (Daily Mirror 16 Oct.07).

Among the better-known theories about propaganda are Hitler's ideas on the Big Lie. Wikipedia quotes the United States Office of Strategic Services describing Hitler's psychological profile, "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

The government admitted openly that it was the fear that the LTTE would steal a march on the propaganda war that prevented Colombo from giving permission to UN Human Rights Chief Louise Arbour from visiting Kilinochchi. Similarly, it is alleged that both sides indulge in propaganda when reporting casualty figures -- inflating the number of casualties of the enemy, while seeking to minimise their own. News agencies refer to this problem in the reports they file.

Information becomes of absolute importance in the battle to influence and dominate the mind of the public. The press, electronic media, the internet, and the plethora of IT equipment in in the hands of citizen journalists, not only facilitate creating support for a cause in local populations, diaspora and the international community, but also serve as effective tool for mobilisation. What is important to note is that in the past, governments had an advantage in the manufacture and dissemination of information or disinformantion but no longer so. The age of information technology has democratised the process, thereby allowing non-state actors too access to technology for psy-ops.

Therefore, use of information technology to shape perceptions of allies as well as enemies makes information technology, effectively used, a force multiplier, meaning that it enhances the effect of actual act by manipulating perceptions about that act.

The keyword, however, is 'effective.' For information to be effective, it has to be credible. Though the government was keeping up a barrage of information on numbers of LTTE cadres killed as well as an impressive number of LTTE vessels transporting military hardware sunk, news agencies reporting on these matters say such information "cannot be independently verified."

But where government propaganda falls short is on what can be verified. The fiasco of the government admitting initially to five aircraft destroyed at Anurdhapura and then to eight was bad; when the opposition said up to 18 were gone there was no effective counter by the MCNS. What this has done is to also call to question the veracity of the earlier reports the public might have believed. If perceptions are key to winning a war the government has not fared too well! It is the boomeranging of an ineffectively handled psy-ops that perhaps compelled the government to try resorting to censorship. That would only make matters worse.