New Delhi, Oct 14 — The ‘liar's dividend’ is a concept that was coined by legal scholars Robert Chesney and Danielle Citron. New trends indicate that the use of this concept by terrorist organisations and violent extremists is on the rise and is fast becoming a tool for evasion, recruitment, and radicalisation.
Terrorist organisations are already using Artificial Intelligence (AI) widely to generate and deliver content in local languages. This has not only made the job easier and more cost-effective, but has also increased the reach of these organisations. AI tools are used to radicalise, recruit, plan and incite major terrorist attacks.
The ‘liar’s dividend' concept is aimed at discrediting anything that is put out by the security agencies.
An Intelligence Bureau official explained that when the agencies put out information relating to the operational failures of a terrorist organisation, then these outfits use the ‘liar’s dividend' to state that what the agencies have put out is AI-generated deepfake content.
“In a nutshell, they try to pass off correct information as fake, and the main aim is to debunk what the agencies have claimed,” the official said.
The basic idea is to discredit information put out by the agencies. It is also aimed at covering losses borne by the terrorist organisations.
“Groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been using this concept every time they suffer huge losses at the hands of the security forces. They also use it when an announcement relating to the death of a top leader or commander is made,” the official said.
Another official said the trend was worrying as it could demoralise people.
The AI-generated content circulated by these terrorist groups can sometimes be so convincing that it could undermine the credibility of security agencies or even create doubts about reports of losses suffered by terror groups, the official explained.
The ‘liar's dividend’ has the potential to derail investigations. It also sows doubts in the minds of the judicial system that is dealing with such cases. It opens up an entirely new challenge for the investigators and prosecution to prove that the content that has debunked their information is not correct.
Another official said the tactic was also aimed at eroding public trust in the system.
“If terrorist groups repeatedly use this tactic whenever the agencies release information about an operation, it creates serious doubts in the minds of the public. This complicates matters, as the agencies then have to establish a separate channel to counter the claims being made by the terrorist groups,” the official said.
The ‘liar's dividend’ is also a tool that the terrorist groups are using to ensure that the morale of their potential recruits does not go down.
If Indian security agencies report heavy losses inflicted on groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the groups could use this tactic to dispute the claims and cast doubt on the official accounts.
Potential recruits who might otherwise be demoralised by losses suffered by these terrorist groups could reconsider their views when this tactic is used to dispute such reports. Security agencies ensure that details of their operations and the losses inflicted on these groups are made public.
While one of the main intentions behind this is to keep the morale of the people high, the other is to demoralise those who feel that these groups are strong and hence it would be a good choice to join the outfit.
Officials say outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are adopting this concept, and one could expect the use of the same each time an operation is carried out by the Indian security agencies.
The idea is to ensure people trust nothing that agencies are saying. In such a scenario, these terrorist groups hope that many people would shift away from the mainstream information ecosystem.
Once this shift happens, such people are tapped by these terrorist groups, and they are offered controlled and moderated information. This automatically widens the scope for radicalisation, an official said.