From Soft War to Cognitive Warfare: The Necessity of Rethinking Media Policy in the Information Age

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Media Management, Faculty of Marketing and Business, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor and faculty of the Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Marketing and Business, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Technological transformations and the emergence of intelligent communication platforms have given rise to a new type of confrontation in which cognitive warfare—as the evolutionary stage of soft war—targets the perceptual mechanisms and decision-making processes of societies. This shift, particularly within the domains of cyber and media security, poses a fundamental challenge to national-level media policymaking. The central question of this study is: How does the transition from soft war to cognitive warfare affect the transformation of media policy foundations in the information age? To address this question, the research employs a qualitative approach using focus groups comprised of experts in media, cybersecurity, and cognitive sciences. The collected data were coded and analyzed through thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarke’s model. Findings reveal that media policy, when confronted with cognitive threats, must transcend traditional frameworks and move toward flexible, data-driven, and adaptive mechanisms for managing societal perception. The main themes extracted include: (1) the necessity of redefining the role of the state in media governance, (2) the importance of enhancing cognitive literacy beyond mere media literacy, (3) strengthening technological capacities for monitoring and surveillance of the media environment, and (4) institutionalizing cognitive infrastructures to manage media-related threats. These results underscore the urgency of establishing proactive, cognition-oriented media governance—one that leverages emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics to bolster collective resilience against evolving threats.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics