Start Date
18-3-2025 12:45 PM
End Date
18-3-2025 2:00 PM
Level of Education
Doctoral
Keywords
Cognitive, Republic, China, Messaging, Warfare, Social Media, TikTok, Intelligence, Startegic
Abstract
The 21st century is the era of cognitive warfare and messaging, reshaping warfare, diplomacy, and economics. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) holds that the pillars of cognitive warfare are public opinion, psychological operations, and legal influence. Further, Cognitive Warfare is actions and operations “to affect attitudes and behaviors, by influencing, protecting, or disrupting individual, group, or population level cognition, to gain an advantage over an adversary.” Cognitive warfare operations seek “to modify perceptions of reality, whole-of-society manipulation has become a new norm, with human cognition shaping to be a critical realm of warfare.” The People's Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as the United States' greatest adversary in cognitive operations.
The PRC is waging aggressive cognitive operations through TikTok against the United States to break America's will to protect its interests. The PRC has a strategic message that drives its TikTok cognitive warfare operations. The PRC's strategic message is that the PRC is the rising power that will inevitably triumph, while the United States is a corrupt power in decline that undermines the rules-based order. Also, the PRC's strategic message is that the rules-based order will work better with the PRC leading it instead of the United States. The PRC is systematically waging cognitive warfare using TikTok to fuel America’s internal divisions, growth of the radical left and right, uncut faith in the American Republic and institutions, and undermining American society.
Chinese Strategic Cognitive Warfare Use of TikTok and Social Media
The 21st century is the era of cognitive warfare and messaging, reshaping warfare, diplomacy, and economics. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) holds that the pillars of cognitive warfare are public opinion, psychological operations, and legal influence. Further, Cognitive Warfare is actions and operations “to affect attitudes and behaviors, by influencing, protecting, or disrupting individual, group, or population level cognition, to gain an advantage over an adversary.” Cognitive warfare operations seek “to modify perceptions of reality, whole-of-society manipulation has become a new norm, with human cognition shaping to be a critical realm of warfare.” The People's Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as the United States' greatest adversary in cognitive operations.
The PRC is waging aggressive cognitive operations through TikTok against the United States to break America's will to protect its interests. The PRC has a strategic message that drives its TikTok cognitive warfare operations. The PRC's strategic message is that the PRC is the rising power that will inevitably triumph, while the United States is a corrupt power in decline that undermines the rules-based order. Also, the PRC's strategic message is that the rules-based order will work better with the PRC leading it instead of the United States. The PRC is systematically waging cognitive warfare using TikTok to fuel America’s internal divisions, growth of the radical left and right, uncut faith in the American Republic and institutions, and undermining American society.
