Sosyal Medya'nın Güvenlik Boyutu ve Güç Dengesi

Geleneksel olarak uluslararası ilişkiler alanında bir aktörün üstün bir teknoloji geliştirmesi, güç dengesinin de onun lehine değişmesi anlamına gelmiştir. Her ne kadar teknoloji yayılma eğilimine sahip olsa da devletler, özellikle kısa vadede, kazandıkları üstünlükten diğer aktörler söz konusu teknolojileri elde edinceye kadar faydalanmıştır. Çağımızın en büyük ve önemli teknolojik gelişmeleri dijital ortamda gerçekleşmektedir. Dijital teknolojilerin yayılma hızı ise tarihte eşi görülmemiş derecede yüksektir. Bu teknolojik gelişmelerin hayatın hemen her alanına etki eden bir örneği ise sosyal medyadır. Sosyal medya ortaya çıkışının ardından hızla tüm dünyaya yayılmış ve çeşitli platformlar çerçevesinde milyarlarca aktif kullanıcıya sahip olmuştur. Başta Amerika Birleşik Devletleri (ABD) olmak üzere batılı devletler tarafından geliştirilen teknolojilere dayanan sosyal medya alanı, bu devletler tarafından sosyal ve ekonomik perspektiften ele alınmıştır. Ancak diğer devletler ve kimi devlet dışı aktörler için bu alan yeni bir tehdit ve güvenlik alanı olarak görülmüştür. Rusya’nın 2016 ABD seçimlerine müdahaleleri ve IŞİD’in sosyal medya faaliyetleri bu yaklaşımın başlıca örnekleridir. Batılı devletlerin kendi geliştirdikleri teknoloji alanında başarılı defansif stratejiler ortaya koyamamış olması, günümüz teknolojik gelişmelerinin geleneksel avantajları her zaman beraberinde getirmediğini göstermektedir. Dijital dünyada teknolojinin yayılma hızının neredeyse anlık olması, Batılı devletlerin kurumsal yapısı ve bu alana yaklaşımlarındaki farklılıklar gibi nedenlerle; teknolojiyi geliştiren aktörler aynı teknolojiden zarar görmüştür. Sosyal medya bir bilgi muharebesi alanına dönüştürülürken bu muharebede sosyal medya ve ardındaki teknolojileri geliştiren devletler görece başarısız olmuştur. Bu çalışma günümüz teknolojilerinin güç dengesine etkilerinin, geleneksel gelişmelerden farkını ortaya koymaktadır.

Security Aspect of Social Media and Power Balance

According to the traditional understanding in International Relations, if an actor develops superior technology, that means the power balance is changed in its favor. Although technology tends to spread, especially in the short-term states benefit from the superiority they gain until other states get hold of this technology. Today the most preeminent and substantial technological developments take place in the digital area. Digital technologies spread at an unprecedented rate. One of the most influential of these technologies is social media. Social media has permeated almost all aspects of life and gained billions of active users around the World. This new phenomenon was made possible by the Western states, especially the United States of America (USA). While the states behind the technological developments considered this new area from a socio-economic point of view, other states and some non-state actors approached it as a new threat and security perspective. Russia’s interventions to the 2016 US elections and ISIS’s social media operations are the main examples of this approach. Western states' shortcomings in introducing successful defensive strategies against these threats show that today’s technological developments do not always accompany the traditional advantages. Almost instantaneous spread of technology in the digital world, the institutional structure of Western states and their differences towards this area caused the developers of these technologies being harmed by the same developments. While social media is transformed into an informational warfare area, the states which developed social media and new technologies was relatively unsuccessful in this area. Hence, this study sets forth the idea that today’s technologies change “power balances” differently from the traditional equivalents.

___

  • Abrams, A. (2019, April 18). Here’s What We Know So Far About Russia’s 2016 Meddling. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from Time website: https://time.com/5565991/russia-influence-2016-election/
  • Ajir, M., & Vailliant, B. (2018). Russian Information Warfare. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 12(3), 21.
  • Biały, B. (2017). Social Media—From Social Exchange to Battlefield. The Cyber Defense Review, 2(2), 23.
  • Chakrabarti, S. (2018, 01). Hard Questions: What Effect Does Social Media Have on Democracy? | Facebook Newsroom. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/01/effect-social-media-democracy/
  • Clement, J. (2019, August). Number of social media users worldwide 2010-2021 | Statista. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
  • Cresci, E., & Halliday, J. (2016, January 6). How a puddle in Newcastle became a national talking point. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/06/the-internet-cant-stop-watching-this-livestream-of-people-trying-to-cross-a-puddle
  • Crespo, G. (2018, September 29). American flag that survived Hurricane Florence’s winds is up for auction. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from CNN website: https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/us/american-flag-auction-hurricane-florence-trnd/index.html
  • Desjardins, J. (2016, August 12). Chart: The Largest Companies by Market Cap Over 15 Years. Retrieved September 14, 2019, from Visual Capitalist website: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chart-largest-companies-market-cap-15-years/
  • Diallo, A. I. (2018, February 23). Social networking and human interactions: How social networking changed our way of life. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from Master Intelligence Economique et Stratégies Compétitives website: https://master-iesc-angers.com/social-networking-and-human-interactions-how-social-networking-changed-our-way-of-life/
  • Duhigg, C. (2012, February 16). How Companies Learn Your Secrets. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html
  • Edwards, B. (2016, November 4). The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems. Retrieved September 13, 2019, from The Atlantic website: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/the-lost-civilization-of-dial-up-bulletin-board-systems/506465/
  • Ellul, J. (1973). Propaganda: The formation of men’s attitudes (Vintage Books ed). New York: Vintage Books.
  • Facebook. (n.d.). Advertising policies. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/restricted_content/political
  • Federal Election Commision. (2016). Advertising and disclaimers. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from FEC.gov website: https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/advertising/
  • Glaser, A. (2018, February 16). What We Know About How Russia’s Internet Research Agency Meddled in the 2016 Election. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from Slate Magazine website: https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/what-we-know-about-the-internet-research-agency-and-how-it-meddled-in-the-2016-election.html
  • Gore, L. (2018, September 14). Frying Pan Tower American flag, “Kevin,” becomes Hurricane Florence’s viral sensation. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from Al website: https://www.al.com/news/2018/09/frying_pan_tower_american_flag.html
  • Harris, R. (2016, December 23). More data will be created in 2017 than the previous 5,000 years of humanity. Retrieved September 8, 2019, from App Developer Magazine website: https://appdevelopermagazine.com/more-data-will-be-created-in-2017-than-the-previous-5,000-years-of-humanity-/
  • Heitmann, H., & Lott, B. (2008). Protecting Corporate Reputation in an Era of Instant Transparency. In D. Pantaleo & N. Pal (Eds.), From Strategy to Execution: Turning Accelerated Global Change into Opportunity. Springer Science & Business Media.
  • Hill, K. (2012, February 16). How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did. Retrieved September 8, 2019, from Forbes website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
  • Isachenkov, V. (2017, February 22). Russia military acknowledges new branch: Info warfare troops. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from AP NEWS website: https://apnews.com/8b7532462dd0495d9f756c9ae7d2ff3c
  • Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10/gzr
  • King, G., Pan, J., & Roberts, M. E. (2017). How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument. American Political Science Review, 111(03), 484–501. https://doi.org/10/gbrrsn
  • Lomas, N. (2019, November 2). Twitter’s political ads ban is a distraction from the real problem with platforms. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from TechCrunch website: http://social.techcrunch.com/2019/11/02/twitters-political-ads-ban-is-a-distraction-from-the-real-problem-with-platforms/
  • MacAskill, E., Dance, G., Cage, F., Chen, G., & Popovich, N. (2013, November 1). NSA files decoded: Edward Snowden’s surveillance revelations explained. Retrieved September 14, 2019, from The Guardian website: http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded
  • Marr, B. (2018, May 21). How Much Data Do We Create Every Day? Retrieved September 8, 2019, from Forbes website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/21/how-much-data-do-we-create-every-day-the-mind-blowing-stats-everyone-should-read/
  • Mayer, J. (2018, September 24). How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/how-russia-helped-to-swing-the-election-for-trump
  • Myrstad, F. L.-H. (2018). How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/finn_myrstad_how_tech_companies_deceive_you_into_giving_up_your_data_and_privacy
  • Noyes, D. (2019, July 24). Valuable Facebook Statistics. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from Zephoria Inc. website: https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/
  • ODNI. (2017). Intelligence Community Assessment Report, Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
  • O’Reilly, T. (2005, September 30). What Is Web 2.0. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from O’Reilly website: https://oreilly.com{file}
  • Owen, D. (2018). The New Media’s Role in Politics. In The age of perplexity (pp. 106–122). : Penguin Random House Grup.
  • Prier, J. (2017). Commanding the Trend. Strategic Studies Quarterly , 11(4), 37.
  • Shah, S. (2016, May 14). The History of Social Media. Retrieved September 13, 2019, from Digital Trends website: https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/
  • Swift, J. (2009, March). The Soviet-American Arms Race. Retrieved September 13, 2019, from https://www.historytoday.com/archive/soviet-american-arms-race
  • Tjepkema, L. (2019, January 3). 5 Big Social Media Predictions for 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from Emarsys website: https://www.emarsys.com/resources/blog/top-5-social-media-predictions-2019/
  • Toni, A., Asta, B., Minna, H., & Sirkka, H. (2008). Social media roadmaps. Exploring the futures triggered by social media. VTT TIEDOTTEITA RESEARCH NOTES 2454, 83.
  • United States Department of State. (1987). Soviet Influence Activities: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda, 1986–87.
  • Weiss, M. (2016, July 26). Russia’s Long History of Messing With Americans Minds Before the DNC Hack. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/26/putin-s-wicked-leaks-didn-t-start-with-the-dnc
  • West, L. J. (2016). #jihad: Understanding Social Media as a Weapon. Security Challenges, 12(2), 19.
  • Yourish, K., Buchanan, L., & Watkins, D. (2018, September 20). A Timeline Showing the Full Scale of Russia’s Unprecedented Interference in the 2016 Election, and Its Aftermath. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/politics/russia-trump-election-timeline.html, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/politics/russia-trump-election-timeline.html