From cell phones to conflict? Reflections on the emerging ICT–political conflict research agenda

communication conflict information technology

Distributed globally via social media, graphic images of bloody clashes between Twitter-mobilized protesters and government forces in Egypt, Turkey, and Ukraine offer a searing example of technology’s role in facilitating mass mobilization. Scenes from the contemporary battlefield, whether Syrian rebels using Google Maps to correct mortar fire or the Taliban using SMS to narrowcast propaganda in Afghanistan, similarly illustrate the role of modern technology in changing the dynamics of conflict.