Sosyal Medya'nın Güvenlik Boyutu ve Güç Dengesi

Year 2020, Volume: 22 Issue: 1, 311 - 334, 08.05.2020

Mesut Aslan

Abstract

Geleneksel olarak
uluslararası ilişkiler alanında bir aktörün üstün bir teknoloji geliştirmesi,
güç dengesinin de onun lehine değişmesi anlamına gelmiştir. Her ne kadar
teknoloji yayılma eğilimine sahip olsa da devletler, özellikle kısa vadede,
kazandıkları üstünlükten diğer aktörler söz konusu teknolojileri elde edinceye
kadar faydalanmıştır. Çağımızın en büyük ve önemli teknolojik gelişmeleri
dijital ortamda gerçekleşmektedir. Dijital teknolojilerin yayılma hızı ise
tarihte eşi görülmemiş derecede yüksektir. Bu teknolojik gelişmelerin hayatın
hemen her alanına etki eden bir örneği ise sosyal medyadır. Sosyal medya ortaya
çıkışının ardından hızla tüm dünyaya yayılmış ve çeşitli platformlar
çerçevesinde milyarlarca aktif kullanıcıya sahip olmuştur. Başta Amerika
Birleşik Devletleri (ABD) olmak üzere batılı devletler tarafından geliştirilen
teknolojilere dayanan sosyal medya alanı, bu devletler tarafından sosyal ve
ekonomik perspektiften ele alınmıştır. Ancak diğer devletler ve kimi devlet
dışı aktörler için bu alan yeni bir tehdit ve güvenlik alanı olarak
görülmüştür. Rusya’nın 2016 ABD seçimlerine müdahaleleri ve IŞİD’in sosyal
medya faaliyetleri bu yaklaşımın başlıca örnekleridir. Batılı devletlerin kendi
geliştirdikleri teknoloji alanında başarılı defansif stratejiler ortaya
koyamamış olması, günümüz teknolojik gelişmelerinin geleneksel avantajları her
zaman beraberinde getirmediğini göstermektedir. Dijital dünyada teknolojinin
yayılma hızının neredeyse anlık olması, Batılı devletlerin kurumsal yapısı ve
bu alana yaklaşımlarındaki farklılıklar gibi nedenlerle; teknolojiyi geliştiren
aktörler aynı teknolojiden zarar görmüştür. Sosyal medya bir bilgi muharebesi
alanına dönüştürülürken bu muharebede sosyal medya ve ardındaki teknolojileri
geliştiren devletler görece başarısız olmuştur. Bu çalışma günümüz
teknolojilerinin güç dengesine etkilerinin, geleneksel gelişmelerden farkını
ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

Sosyal Medya, Bilgi Muharebesi, Güç Dengesi, Rusya, IŞİD, İnternet

Security Aspect of Social Media and Power Balance

Abstract

According
to the traditional understanding in International Relations, if an actor
develops superior technology, that means the power balance is changed in its
favor. Although technology tends to spread, especially in the short-term states
benefit from the superiority they gain until other states get hold of this
technology. Today the most preeminent and substantial technological
developments take place in the digital area. Digital technologies spread at an
unprecedented rate. One of the most influential of these technologies is social
media. Social media has permeated almost all aspects of life and gained
billions of active users around the World. This new phenomenon was made
possible by the Western states, especially the United States of America (USA).
While the states behind the technological developments considered this new area
from a socio-economic point of view, other states and some non-state actors
approached it as a new threat and security perspective. Russia’s interventions
to the 2016 US elections and ISIS’s social media operations are the main
examples of this approach. Western states' shortcomings in introducing
successful defensive strategies against these threats show that today’s technological
developments do not always accompany the traditional advantages. Almost
instantaneous spread of technology in the digital world, the institutional
structure of Western states and their differences towards this area caused the
developers of these technologies being harmed by the same developments. While
social media is transformed into an informational warfare area, the states which
developed social media and new technologies was relatively unsuccessful in this
area. Hence, this study sets forth the idea that today’s technologies change “power
balances” differently from the traditional equivalents.

Keywords

Social Media, Information Warfare, Power Balance, Russia, ISIS, Internet

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