The advancement of the digital world has introduced new concepts of warfare which are known as 5th-generation warfare. It is the war of hi-tech with the use of non-kinetic military action such as social engineering, misinformation, and cyber-attacks along with the use of artificial intelligence. Digital media is the streamline in the attacking and countering of narrative. No one can escape this battlefield and have to counter every attack in the same field. It is the war of ideologies, an attack on the culture and norms, a bombing of distraction from destinations and goals, and firing on beliefs. Every region is bound to it and is ready for encountering all the attacks.
As Pakistan has already decided to digitalize the advertisement and it would be a great platform and initiative to present Pakistan’s narrative to the global world. Digital media is the only platform to present ourselves to the world. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in a media briefing that the Digital Media Wing published a report with a glimpse of the hybrid war facing Pakistan. He expressed his views about this new-age war that the fifth-generation war and hybrid war were not a philosophy but a reality. Further, he told that the government was setting up the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) to address the challenges of fake news, sectarian and hateful content.
He also mentioned the Indian networks which promote sectarianism in Pakistan. And there are millions of social media users who intentionally or unintentionally come across such fake content about the nation. And consider them as true and that is threatening. Further, he told about the expense received by Google and Facebook from Pakistan that is about Rs. 7 billion which is a hell of an amount. He also figured out the media usage which is in million and most of the population has access to it.
So, it means that media has both its pros and cons and it depends upon us how we are going to use it. We need to create positive content about our country and we have to present them to the world. If someone is attacking us through their fake content then we can also counter them with the same intensity and power. Our Pakistan is full of good content so let’s explore them and present them to the world. We can never effort to have a lost image of our nation in this era of the fifth war. As it is well said that Diamond cuts Diamond so why not counter media with media.
