In the age of cyber and artificial intelligence technology, the world’s democracies face an unprecedented challenge: threats of influence on public consciousness by malicious parties. The rapid rise of advanced technologies in the past year has enhanced the ability of autocratic regimes, terrorist organizations and hackers to spread false information on social media on a massive scale. Their goal is clear: to undermine the existing order, sow social chaos, accelerate internal crises and affect the integrity of the election process.
These dangers were revealed in their full force during the “Iron Swords” war that broke out on October 7, 2023. Hamas’ supporters spread photos, videos and false claims on social media in order to harm Israel’s image in the world. Further, Russia and Iran conduct influence operations that intensify the divisions in Israeli society. Despite being one of the most advanced countries in the development of artificial intelligence, Israel is far behind in the field of planning and setting policies and regulations for this technology and working with social networks and coordinating between the work of the defense sector and civil society.
The purpose of this session is to deepen the discussion about the threat of influence in the cyber and digital space, against the background of the accelerated development of artificial intelligence and the recent events in the “Iron Swords” war. The session will include a series of lectures and a round table, where the possible challenges and obstacles to dealing with these threats at the national level will be discussed.
