EDITORIALS
Milan at war (hybrid). The covert, externally directed manoeuvre to undermine the minds of young people
For Crosetto, the clashes in Milan are part of a cognitive war. Social media, data collection and algorithms are said to be the weapons used by foreign powers to influence young people and destabilise democracies. But the name of the alleged instigator remains unspoken.
(Photo: Ansa)
Milan has become the battleground of a hybrid war with blurred boundaries, where it is difficult to identify the sides and their commanders, and in which the unconventional weapons are TikTok and Telegram. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto is convinced of this; yesterday, at a conference on defence procurement at Villa Miani in Rome, he outlined what he believes to be a clear, externally directed strategy. The clashes in Milan, he said, are part of a cognitive war, “a war that none of us has ever fought and which we are enduring. And my greatest concern, even more so than the ‘physical’ one, is the ability that certain nations now possess – having used algorithms to study the minds of our young people – to understand them far better than we do and to influence them”.
Whilst social media may be the tool used by external actors to instil in young people’s minds the idea that ‘anti-democratic is cool’ and that ‘the West is evil’, data collection lies at the heart of it all. As Crosetto points out, this is an essential step in developing the algorithms capable of making an impact as young people scroll through their feeds. “When you’ve been producing content and collecting data for years on end, without anyone realising it, and you’ve seen the reactions it triggers – and with artificial intelligence you have the chance to study them, perhaps enhancing your analytical capabilities through quantum technologies – you have a hugely powerful weapon at your disposal, one that no one else possesses.”
An apocalyptic scenario, which could spread to Africa, where “they are even poorer, there are many of them, and they are stronger. Imagine what might happen if it took root there too”. And whilst some are more concerned with justifying these unwitting new soldiers of hybrid warfare than with devising countermeasures, speculation is rife as to who the “mastermind” might be. It is impossible to take an official stance, but behind the scenes, yesterday at Villa Miani, people were asking, in a suggestive tone, “who else might have an interest in destabilising two countries on the eve of elections, with France and Italy involved?”. No one dared to voice the answer aloud.