SOCMINT: a shifting balance of opportunity

Abstract

The ubiquity of social media platforms promises greater government insight for horizon scanning, warning notice, investigations and situational awareness. This paper concludes that SOCMINT has utility in horizon scanning, offers limited value to warning notice and situational awareness. For the Five Eyes nations the adversary utilisation of SOCMINT is considerable and outweigh the advantages of this technology. Western powers are currently losing the information component of hybrid conflict. Consequently, capable and hostile cyber powers understand the western centre of gravity and have been able to undermine confidence in the public’s certainty in facts and democratic institutions.