1.1. Strategic communication Strategic communication is a part of a democratic society. It is used to ensure the ability to perform in situations, where a country is influenced by external operations, such as mendacious media operations, oppression aimed at the government or other political manipulation. Strategic communication ensures the society’s ability to tolerate crises emotionally. If the communication includes untruthful information or intentional disinformation, it is no longer strategic communication, but a psychological or information operation. (Jantunen, 2015, pp. 210-211.) Strategic communication integrates the messages from different sources to serve public goals named by politics. The messages can’t be overlap or be in conflict …show more content…
If a government does not communicate, it cannot be transparent. In addition to transparency, interaction and ability to receive feedback are the values of strategic communication. (Jantunen, 2015, pp. 212-213.) 1.2. Information operations and influence operations The difference between information warfare and information influencing is thin. Military professor Jari Rantapelkonen draws the line between these two terms on the word war. He says that to be in a war the war needs to be declared first. He reminds that the term information warfare is used lightly, and it can also be understood metaphorically. (Halminen, 2014) Information operations are procedures and principles used in military crises. Different models of action are electronic warfare, information network operations, psychological operations, diversion, operational security and physical destruction. The actions are planned ahead to reach wanted results. (Mattson & Mikkola, 2013, p. 129) The social media has extended the number of actors in information operations. Anyone interested in the topic can take an active role in information influencing. The different sides of information warfare can feed ideas and action as the “information solders” do the work online. (Jantunen, 2015, s. …show more content…
The source of a white propaganda message is easy to identify and the information in the message tends to be correct. It is used to gain plausibility among the target audience. The source of black propaganda is often hidden. Black propaganda can also be categorized as disinformation. (Neumann, 2016.) The source of black propaganda can seem legitimate. The information in the messages can be true or false. The difference between black and gray propaganda might be difficult to identify. The source of gray propaganda can seem like one with no agenda. The information in the messages might seem relevant, but often, it’s not referencing on any relevant or existing source. (Kelly,