Good leadership is not about telling people what to do. Good leadership is about empowering others to achieve goals and objectives, which furthers your organization’s interests in the world. To that extent, the leadership shown by CIA leadership in engaging with millennials on a positively affecting project over social media has been a magnificent success.
To solution against the rash of disinformation targeting the CIA over social media is not a task for the fainthearted. It shows how unity and purpose can bridge diversity gaps and open doors to alternate thinking that otherwise will not meet the problem. Historic context is important, but if incomplete, it can also be misleading.
It is also the chink in the CIA’s reputational armor, which is routinely targeted by disinformation specialists. The 1975 Church Hearings justly reigned in the CIA for cited abuses. However, equally noteworthy is the unknown and highly dangerous nature of the CIA mission, before, then, and now.
Fast forward to the present, and the uncannily named “Humans of CIA” project. It is an online charm offensive over social media. It has made strides as it weaves into different forms of social media and user engagement. Just like any other individual, business, or brand, the CIA project team needs to know about digital marketing, digital promotion, and social media platforms.
Lessons Learned Demands More CIA Focus
While this project has drawn criticism from some of America’s left (centralist by EU political standards), and right like Ted Cruz, the project’s effectiveness is clearly a challenge to their unstable perception of their place in the world. Whether it’s hypocrisy to the left, or bigotry to the right, the genuine leadership shown by the CIA during this time is a stark reminder of what needs to be done.
While political gripers are out to cause problems, these leaders have settled into a course of action to fix problems, which are caused in boardrooms, not battlefields. It’s also my view that they need to build on this good move. Saudi Arabia took a disinformation potshot against Qatar, as did the UAE, in regional campaigns to spark social unrest. It’s a lesson for all to remember.
The conflict in 2017 was digitally based, and disinformation was the weapon of choice. The Qatari response in kind triggered a Saudi-led blockade. At its apex, digital cybercrime and disinformation had hijacked social media accounts globally. The account owners were unwittingly involved in fake news campaigns by these Arab neighbors in this regional dispute.
Qatar V Saudi Arabia Alliance
It’s no wonder that hacked accounts, bots, structured orchestration of local assets and more created a perception of power that was to spark a response in kind. Social unrest, misperception of one’s leaders and an ugly level of dishonesty filled the war rooms of all kingdoms involved.
What it proved was that the disinformation industry is closely related to the data industry propping up social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Use of social media data at scale is undisputable on all sides. The CIA would have noted his by their agency profile.
Imagine having your back to the wall where you need to copy your attackers’ strategies in order to defeat them. The CIA, as an agency, is an excellent candidate to pilot capabilities against disinformation attacks over social media. The obvious leadership garnered to create the “Humans of CIA” project is proof of this.
CIA Pilot Solutions, Preparing For the Future
It should only be the beginning. Noting ethical boundaries within the context of the mission, the CIA can strike a good balance in implementing what is, but more importantly, developing what could be. They are not bound by the corporate mentality of process for profit, and then people, as a mindset. This is a massive edge to have from the start.
Brainstorming for new ways of doing things is being done the world over. Only now, we understand the patterning of cybercrime to disinformation, to cause disruption in target nations. Hostile states like Russia and China are comfortable following the product lifecycle curve by proceduralising their innovations. That way, they can scale with less skilled operatives, implementing campaigns as their capabilities mature.
This leaves the door open to more creative thinking by other nations, especially targeted democracies with more complex societal models. By understanding the threat, the CIA can invite a diverse range of employees to contribute to new ways of looking at the problem.
While working the problem, diverse mindsets always find an alternative path to travel. When you give those quirky sorts a chance, solutions emerge. While all are good, some are fit for mission, and some are not. Such a team creates options from viewing the problem differently. They can change the rules of the game back to our favor!
About the Author
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
