Digital Conflict
The frontlines of conflict are now increasingly digital. HD’s Digital Conflict team is the bridge between these modern realities and traditional mediation.
Social media poses new threats to stability and peacemaking. The sophisticated cyber and information operations run by state and non-state actors compound geopolitical complexity and risk.
From social media accords to multilateral engagement with policymakers, conflict parties, mediators, experts and technology platforms, HD is making peace in the digital age.
HD’s social media and conflict mediation programme supports projects in various regions and is delivering innovative solutions that include:
- A landmark social media peace agreement among three communities in Nigeria to limit inflammatory content that has fuelled a deadly ethno-religious conflict
- Codes of conduct for responsible online behaviour during elections in Indonesia and Kosovo
- A citizens’ forum in Bosnia and Herzegovina that developed standards for social media conduct in the run-up to elections
- Dialogue with social media platforms on the importance of protecting peace processes from social media harm
In partnership with Build Up, HD has developed a toolkit to help mediators analyse social media activities and better understand how these insights can complement dialogue and mediation efforts.
The clear and practical guide features case studies from Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and more conflict areas.
To support the social media programme, an experts group is helping HD to drive innovative thinking and foster collaboration.
With backgrounds in government, academia, peacemaking, technology and mediation, the experts are committed to sharing resources to improve understanding of social media’s effects on peace processes.
HD’s cyber programme includes tracks of bilateral and regional dialogue that draw on and feed into broader multilateral initiatives to create a global framework for cyber stability.
HD engages with a range of countries possessing advanced cyber capabilities to develop a range of confidence-building measures.
To enquire about HD’s Digital Conflict programme, please contact the team at digitalconflict@hdcentre.org
Photo: A social media card as part of HD’s work in Bosnia and Herzegovina to encourage responsible online conduct ahead of general elections. © HD
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