Tweeting troops: UK to create new military unit to fight 'wars' on social media

Based in Berkshire, the 2,000 man strong unit will specialise in fighting the non-lethal information wars

A little over three months after the UK ended its combat mission in Afghanistan, the country has announced that it will be setting up a new military unit which will be specialised in non-lethal but equally important skills to counter advances by the likes of Islamic State group and Russia in a new battle theatre – social media, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Dubbed as 'Tweeting troops' by Channel4, the new unit will be part of the 77^th Brigade with a strength of 2,000 troops, reservists and possibly civilians with 'bespoke skills', as the British army seeks to go on the offensive in the information and psychological war on the 'frontlines' in online forums -- all from the comfort of its command and control centre in Hermitage, Berkshire.

Modeled after a Second World War unit that operated in Burma, the 'Chindits', the unit is expected to begin operations in April and will focus on "unconventional non-lethal, non-military methods such as shaping behaviours through the use of dynamic narratives."

A British army spokesperson said the unit will "play a key part in enabling the UK to fight in the information age" and that it "consists of more than just traditional capabilities".

"It recognises that the actions of others in a modern battlefield can be affected in ways that are not necessarily violent and it draws heavily on important lessons from our commitments to operations in Afghanistan amongst others."

The unit is set to diminish the 'onslaught' they face from the likes of Russians spreading propaganda and misinformation, as is evident in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and how there were attempts from some quarters in Russia to propogate the idea that a Ukrainian fighter aircraft had actually shot down the Malaysian airliner MH17. Another dangerous foe has turned out to be the ISIS which seems to have caused a lot more damage in online forums than fighting in Syria or Iraq, having radicalised individuals from Europe to travel hundreds of miles to fight for them in the Levant, or even carry out lone wolf attacks such as the Woolwich assault on a British officer and those on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

Inspiration from Israel

This will not be the first army unit of its kind in the world, however. The tweeting troops can take inspiration from a similar units in the Israeli army, which has established itself to be pioneers of such warfare with soldiers active on 30 social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. If that is not enough, they work in six languages.

The US military too has a similar unit. The US Central Command recognised the power of online forums and had created an online engagement team whose job was to engage with people in online forums, even comment on news sites and blogs to present its point of view on emerging events and even try to change public perception using age old PR moves.