The line between the physical and digital battlefields is blurring – yet our government remains behind the curve
Elon Musk (Image Press Agency/Alamy)
3 min read
As Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine drags on, with brave Ukrainians continuing to defend their country against Vladimir Putin’s aggression, it has become increasingly difficult to imagine the conflict producing new surprises.
Yet this month appears to have done exactly that. The surprise has not come from the battlefield, but rather through the eerie absence of something that has become a fixture of the modern internet: bots.
Reports from Ukraine suggest that strikes against Russian infrastructure have hit facilities linked to Yandex, the Russian equivalent of Google, which has led to bot traffic from the country almost disappearing overnight.
Those familiar with Russian hybrid warfare know it has been employing these tactics for some time. Going back as far as 2013, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who rose to fame leading the ill-fated Wagner mutiny, was turning his hand to internet influence using the Internet Research Agency, also called ‘Kremlinbots’, in an attempt to influence public opinion in the West online.
It comes as no surprise that the Prime Minister is now confirming these tactics were used during the Brexit referendum in an attempt to influence the outcome.
While the strategic impact of the current disruptions remains unclear, this episode highlights the increasingly blurred line between the physical and digital battlefields. Modern wars are no longer fought solely with tanks, artillery and aircraft; they are also contests over information, communications and public perception. Disrupting the infrastructure that enables these capabilities can therefore have consequences far beyond the immediate damage caused by a strike.
This phenomenon is far from new. States have long sought to influence domestic and international audiences through propaganda and information operations. What has changed is the scale and speed at which these campaigns can now be conducted, with social media platforms and automated accounts providing unprecedented reach. This is also not the first time that we have seen strikes lead to a subsequent decline in internet traffic. Strikes on Iran in June last year saw a significant percentage of X accounts backing Scottish independence go silent. Subsequent research by Cyabra went on to allege that over a quarter of the accounts advocating for independence were bots.
These tactics form the foundation of ‘astroturf’ movements online, these being movements that look like organic grassroots activism from afar, but on closer inspection turn out to be completely artificial. Their impact on public opinion is dubious; however, they play an important role in first amplifying and secondly legitimising fringe political opinions.
Defending Britain is no longer simply about the size of our armed forces or the strength of our military equipment
The effect of this cannot be understated. Anyone who has been on X since Elon Musk’s takeover will have seen a marked increase in extreme far-right rhetoric. This rarely changes opinions; it merely gives people who already hold such vile views the confidence they are not alone and that they can share these views without consequence.
The nature of warfare is changing, and our approach to national security must change with it. Defending Britain is no longer simply about the size of our armed forces or the strength of our military equipment. It is also about protecting the information we consume, the infrastructure we depend on and the democratic institutions that hold our society together.
These threats are not some distant prospect. They are already here, and Britain is increasingly exposed to hostile states seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities. Yet the government remains behind the curve when it comes to investing in the capabilities and national resilience needed to confront them. If we are serious about defending Britain, we need to recognise that the threats we face have already changed, and start investing accordingly.
James MacCleary is Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes and defence spokesperson
