In today’s world of technology and AI, national security for a country is not only defined by its borders, and tanks and missiles are not only tools for wars. In this era, the war mode has been completely changed; they fight in the minds of people through generating and countering selective narratives, spreading emotional, ethical, and religious fake videos, and disseminating targeted propaganda on social media.

Cognitive insecurity is a gradual destruction of national integrity.

When a mind is compromised, a nation becomes vulnerable, and it becomes a national security threat. This invisible war is changing and reshaping security threats, particularly in countries where social cohesion is weak, narratives are fragile, and people have less trust in state institutions. This threat is called “cognitive insecurity,” which is rapidly increasing day by day all over the world, particularly in Pakistan.

Cognitive insecurity is a conscious or unconscious action that restructures the belief system, ideology, perception, thinking, and reasoning of people. Fake news, disinformation, digital propaganda, and socio-psychological operations are usually employed in this undertaking. These mental hazards have adverse effects on every sphere of life, yet sensitive sections of society, such as national unity, national cohesion, and relations between the population and the state institutions, are mostly affected by them.

The cognitive threats are not limited to misinformation, disinformation, fake or false news, or conspiracy theories. It slowly persists in influencing the mind of people by not allowing them to distinguish between trust and falsehood, corrodes authority, and leads to selective narratives and taking over narratives that bind a nation. Cognitive insecurity is a gradual destruction of national integrity.

The availability of low-cost smart device handsets, the increasing widespread use of the internet, and the influx of social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok have opened up a very dynamic and unregulated informational environment in Pakistan. Though connectivity and access have increased through these platforms, they have also turned out to be a nursery of rumors, sectarian propaganda, anti-state messages, foreign influence campaigns, and digitally planned instability.

Deepfakes and artificial intelligence propaganda are no longer a product of science fiction, but they are becoming a means of hybrid warfare, allowing our opponents to undermine us without breaching one physical boundary.

To the cognitive mind, there is no need to plant a bomb; only confusion, division, and doubt.

The fact that trust in government and society starts disintegrating is probably most alarming. As long as people stop trusting in the plausibility of state institutions, the media, or democracy itself is coming apart. To the cognitive mind, there is no need to plant a bomb because the mind only needs confusion, division, and doubt. And in a nation that is already pulling its way towards shaky civil-military relationships, strain in the economy, and other neighboring issues, the psychological battlefield is equally disruptive as a kinetic one.

This risk is further amplified by the growing tendency to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to write and relay the intellectual threat. Fake videos of politicians, computer-generated propaganda against sectarian communities, or bots broadcasting controversial hashtags also entered the information warfare. It is not hypothetical risks; such devices have already been tried out in neighboring countries.

The current response of the Government of Pakistan has been uncoordinated and passive. Online content regulation by the state has been viewed as censorship in most cases, and this has led to opposition by civil society and the media. Even though there are laws against cybercrime, their level of enforcement is not clear, and their application does not adequately handle the changing nature of cognitive warfare. In the meantime, the nation does not have an effective plan for digital literacy, counter-disinformation, or management of narrative. It cannot be solved using censorship or takedown orders. It requires a paradigm that causes a change in our perceptions towards security, technology, and governance.

To begin with, cognitive insecurity as an interdisciplinary subject matter of national security should be taken into account. This implies incorporating it into the national security plans, provincial stability response templates, and the planning of emergency response systems. As the military threats are being tracked through intelligence, it is necessary to track narrative threats, as well as the narrative information flows by monitoring the data, analyzing it, and responding to them.

Second, the government will have to invest in digital literacy at every level within the society, particularly in rural, youth, and marginal communities. When the citizens learn to assess the material critically, challenge sources, and check statements, they are the first line against disinformation.

Fake videos of politicians or bots broadcasting controversial hashtags entered the information warfare.

Third, the government should develop institutional competence in narrative analysis, counter-disinformation practices, and the governance of responsible AI. It might be a good idea to establish a national center of cognitive security, filled with technologists, psychologists, linguists, and media professionals, that would actively be on the defense of the information space of the people.

Fourth, the AI-driven tools to identify disinformation, deep fakes, and coordinated digital attacks should be developed and made ethical. These tools are potentially useful to security agencies, media houses, and civil society organizations to enable them to identify narrative threats ahead of time and quickly and effectively counter the threat, all without touching privacy or the right to free speech.

Finally, cognitive security should not be allowed to breach democratic freedoms. The war with misinformation should not turn into curbing the freedom of the press by silencing criticism or prosecuting dissent.  This is not the only challenge that Pakistan is going through. It is a problem that democracies across the globe are struggling with: how to achieve the balance between open societies and secure information ecosystems. The circumstances of Pakistan are, however, distinctively vulnerable, with its history and grievances with its diverse ethnic makeup, as well as its geostrategic location, the country is particularly vulnerable to cognitive warfare. It is not a threat in the future. It is a current fact.

The cognitive insecurity is already shaping the voting, protesting, believing, and acting of the Pakistanis. It is dominating our national discourse, disrupting our civic conversation, and undermining, as it does so, the very idea of collective reality upon which any healthy society must rest.

A failure to contain cognitive insecurity would be a great strategic mistake.

National security is not limited to defending the border or countering terrorism. Nowadays, it is equally important to protect the minds of citizens (against manipulation, distortion, and confusion) in the digital age. A failure to contain cognitive insecurity would be a great strategic mistake. However, with the vision, technology, and public trust, it is possible to swing the challenge around and make it an opportunity, one that would build the base of an even more enlightened, stronger, and cohesive country.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.