Though the Taliban has relied on technology for over a decade in the name of propaganda and public relations, its relationship with social media has only taken root in the last few years, in parallel with the rise of ISIS. Just as terrorist organizations in the Middle East have made Facebook pages, Telegram channels, and Twitter accounts, the Taliban has expanded the breadth and depth of its outreach to the international community in general and the news media in particular.

They called it Think Again, Turn Away. The concept? Use sarcasm as way to turn Islamic State images into an argument against their grim techniques of terror. The creator and producer? The U.S. State Department. Today, everyone agrees the message was worse than ineffective. It played right into the hands of the terrorists.

In response to popular demand, the Embassy of India, Belgrade has launched a new website in Serbian language dedicated to the promotion of Brand India in Serbia. The website has been interlinked with Embassy’s other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Mobile App. This follows from the launch of the first India-Serbia Business Forum on June 27, 2016 in Belgrade. 

Taiwan’s “soft power,” an intangible attraction based on the ideals and principles an actor – a government, country, organization, or individual- values, stands for, projects, and how the actor behaves at home and abroad. [...] Why is Taiwan still unable to connect with international audiences? Taiwan’s external communications are failing to help the island transit from the invisible to the visible.

During a 10-day trip in June, we talked to officials, migrants and activists in Athens, Lesvos -- the Greek island where most refugees first set foot in Europe last year , and Thessaloniki, near the closed border of Macedonia, shutting migrants' way out. Our mission: to see if the technology that many of us use every day: phones, the internet, messaging apps, social networks -- is helping during this crisis. Or not.

For twenty years, I have been researching and writing about Taiwan’s external communications – it’s propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural relations, and what is now called “soft power”. I remain committed to understanding how a state [...] can use external communications to project globally its values and ambitions, and thereby further its political and diplomatic agenda.

For the 85,000 refugees who will resettle in the US this year, mobile phones have become as essential to their daily lives as a safe, clean place to live and a steady job. [...] Mobile and internet services are now on the list of necessities. They not only keep new immigrants in touch with their families back home, but they also provide an important gateway for managing finances and sending cash home to relatives.

The planting of false stories is nothing new; the Soviet Union devoted considerable resources to that during the ideological battles of the Cold War. Now, though, disinformation is regarded as an important aspect of Russian military doctrine, and it is being directed at political debates in target countries with far greater sophistication and volume than in the past.