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What Is Information Warfare?

―What If a Villain Started Polluting Your Algorithm? ―Your YouTube or TikTok feed, your FYP, feels precious, right?This space, which seems to understand your tastes even better than you do, is almost like a private sanctuary.But imagine one day, someone hacks your account and presses “like” thousands of times on the hate videos or fake news you despise most.In an instant, your feed would be flooded with lies.The “weaponization of information” works in exactly this way.States or certain groups pollute society’s entire recommendation algorithm, making us turn against one another.― What Is Information Warfare?Beyond “False Information”, The Destruction of Trust ― If fake news in the past was mostly clickbait posted by individuals, today’s information warfare refers to a highly strategic act in which states or groups use information like a weapon to achieve specific goals.UNESCO and the OECD broadly classify the forces that disrupt the information ecosystem into two categories, depending on intent.• Misinformation: False information shared by mistake, without the intention to deceive others.(Example: sharing unverified health advice)• Disinformation: Manipulated information deliberately created and spread with clear political or economic malicious intent. It is weaponized information, carefully designed to create confusion in another society or shape public opinion.And when disinformation with a specific agenda is spread systematically to cloud people’s judgment and fuel social division, we call it information warfare a non-military means of attack.― Why Is “Information Warfare” the World’s No. 2 Global Risk? ―(Source: World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2025-2026)Why has fake news suddenly become the world’s second-largest risk?Because it is no longer just a matter of “someone being fooled.”Experts are now warning of a new threat that goes beyond simple bots: AI bot swarms.《The Attack of “Fake Consensus”: More Dangerous Than Lies》If there were only one villain polluting the algorithm, we could at least block them.But what if that villain showed up with tens of thousands of clones?This is the core weapon of information warfare in 2026: AI bot swarms. The word “swarm” refers to a group of insects, such as bees or flies.In this case, a single operator releases a swarm of AI agents to control tens of thousands of fake accounts at the same time.They do more than simply spread lies.They trick our brains.• Fake consensus: What would happen if thousands of people suddenly rushed to criticize something you posted?Or if a ridiculous claim received tens of thousands of likes?You might start thinking..“Wait, am I wrong?”or“Maybe everyone really thinks this way.”AI bots manipulate public opinion by creating this illusion of a fake majority.• Coordinated attacks like gears in a machine: These AI “flies” reply to one another, quote one another, and even argue among themselves.They stage the appearance of real people having a real debate, turning the public sphere we see online into a set that anyone can manipulate.《The World Economic Forum’s Warning: “Is Debate Becoming Impossible?”》The World Economic Forum (WEF) warns that when these intelligent bot swarms meet social polarization, democracy itself can become paralyzed.“The public sphere is turning from a space for deliberation into a stage for manipulation. When AI-driven disinformation combines with deeply rooted social polarization, it threatens to paralyze democratic decision-making and erode the foundations of civic trust.”— World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2026• A catalyst for social polarization:Disinformation deepens distrust between people and divides society into two camps that can no longer speak to one another.• A threat to democratic processes:During elections, it clouds voters’ judgment and attacks the legitimacy of governments.• An obstacle to policy implementation:When disinformation spreads around national challenges such as climate change or pandemic response, public policy loses momentum.In the end, we are forced to confront a chilling reality:'Even the opinions of tens of thousands of people that we see with our own eyes may, in fact, be the result of one manipulator’s programming.'― Expert Warning: “Distrust Is the Cheapest Weapon of Destruction” ―The most painful warning from the WEF 2026 report is this:“It is not that lies defeat the truth, but that lies become so overwhelming that truth itself loses meaning.”Information warfare is no longer a small disturbance online.It is now the most cost-effective weapon of attack — one that can shake the survival of a nation and the daily lives of citizens without a single gunshot.Two incidents reveal this frightening reality.▶ Case1. Slovakia’s Presidential Election: The “Two Minutes” That Hijacked DemocracyIn late 2023, just 48 hours before Slovakia’s presidential election, an audio file began dominating Facebook.It appeared to contain a shocking conversation in which a pro-Western candidate discussed raising beer prices and manipulating the election.But it was, in fact, a carefully manipulated AI deepfake.It was a sophisticated act of information warfare, timed to exploit the election silence period, when public clarification was nearly impossible.As a result,the candidate lost the election.Foreign media described it as “the first case in which AI-generated fake news changed a national leader.”(See related article: The Guardian)▶ Case 2. The Fake “Pentagon Explosion” Image: One Picture That Wiped Out Trillions(This image is unrelated to the Pentagon.)In May 2023, an image showing black smoke rising near the U.S. Department of Defense — the Pentagon — was posted on Twitter (X).The image, which impersonated a credible media outlet, spread across the world in an instant, and financial markets reacted immediately.As a result,the U.S. stock market, including the S&P 500, briefly plunged, wiping out trillions of won in market value within minutes. It was a moment that proved how a single AI-generated fake image could strike at the heart of the world’s largest economic system. (See related article: CNN)In this way, manipulated data can threaten our wallets and voting rights more lethally than gunfire.Information strategy expert Nina Schick offered an analysis that captures the essence of this phenomenon:“The goal of modern information warfare is not to make people believe lies, but to make them believe nothing at all. Once trust collapses, the space for compromise disappears, and the public sphere turns from a place of persuasion into a site of mobilization.”— Nina Schick, AI and information integrity expert, World Economic Forum 2026Ultimately, information warfare has evolved into a core tool of geoeconomic confrontation. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026 points out that disinformation is no longer just a rumor, but is being used as a strategic weapon between states —the weaponization of information.• Influence operations:Planting the seeds of conflict inside an adversary’s society, creating social chaos and causing it to weaken from within.• Economic attacks:Injecting fake news into specific companies or key industries to trigger stock price crashes or create serious disruption in global supply chains.The peace we face today is no longer only about stopping guns and weapons.It has become a struggle to protect our own judgment from polluted information flowing through our smartphone screens.― Information Warfare Through the Lens of PeaceTrust: The Final Line of Defense ―Peace ultimately begins with a basic level of trust —the belief that we are citizens who can still understand one another.Responding to information warfare is not simply about censorship.It is a careful effort to rebuild the infrastructure of trust that holds our society together.《Practical Strategies to Protect Peace》In a flood of information pouring in like a storm, how can we protect peace?The WEF Global Risks Report 2026 suggests solutions on three levels:1. Put a “Digital Seal” on AI Content: Technological ResponsibilityAll AI-generated content should carry a clear AI watermark.Just as a masterpiece bears the signature of its artist, every AI creation should include a traceable digital mark so we can distinguish between authentic and fabricated content.2. Fact-Checking Education as Essential “Security Training”: Social InfrastructureFake news is no longer just a personal issue. It is a national security threat.Schools must treat media literacy the ability to identify misinformation as essential education.Like a firewall protecting against cyberattacks, we need to build a firewall of critical thinking in our own minds.3. Don’t Let Go of Dialogue in the Storm: Building “Islands of Cooperation”Even in deep conflict, communication must not stop.No matter how divided we are, we must preserve shared minimum facts.Creating what can be called “islands of cooperation.”Especially on global challenges like climate change or pandemics, dialogue beyond ideological divides is not idealism.It is a practical strategy for survival.In an Era of Geopolitical TensionToday’s battlefield is no longer distant.It exists on the screens of our smartphones.A single “share” we click without thinking can become a sharp weapon to someone else.But 10 seconds of doubt can become a shield that protects peace.What if we made “Pause for 10 seconds before sharing” a simple rule of civic security?Those 10 seconds are not hesitation.They are a moment to shake off the algorithm’s hooks that prey on our anger, and to resist the powerful wave of confirmation bias.Distrust born from lies can become the cheapest and most devastating weapon that destroys our future.But as long as we do not give up the chance to look each other in the eye and persuade, the islands of trust will not sink.Written by Sharon ChoiDirector of PlanningSunhak Peace Prize SecretariatReferences & SourcesGlobal Risks & Information Warfare (2026)• World Economic Forum.Global Risks Report 2026: Analysis of Geopolitics and Information Warfare.: https://www.weforum.org/press/2026/01/global-risks-report-2026• The Guardian.Experts warn of threat to democracy by AI bot swarms infesting social media.: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/22/ai-bot-swarmsAI & Electoral Integrity• TIME.AI’s Underwhelming Impact on the 2024 Elections, 2024-10-30 : https://time.com/7131271/ai-2024-elections/(TIME)AI Surveillance & Global Geopolitics• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.AI Global Surveillance (AIGS) Index: Tracking the Global Expansion of AI Surveillance Technology.: https://carnegieendowment.org/features/ai-global-surveillance-technologyInformation Integrity & Governance Guidelines• UNESCO.Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms: Safeguarding Information Integrity.: https://www.unesco.org/en/communication-information/disinformation-misinformationCase Studies: Disinformation & Economic Impact• CNN Business. Fake Pentagon explosion photo briefly rumbles stock market: The cost of AI-generated misinformation.: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/22/tech/pentagon-explosion-ai-generated-photo/(CNN)