The war of iron swords is not only waged on the battlefield but also on social media.
In this area, the possibilities of harming us as a result of mistakes by reservists or citizens who upload uncensored photos, even innocent photos, is very great.
Often in the background of our photos there can be elements or classified information that could provide valuable information to our enemies.
To understand what damages may arise as a result of our photographs or other shares on social networks, we spoke with the CEO of XYZ Elements, Roy Shloman, which deals with the analysis of visible information.
According to him: "Nowadays in the age of social networks, we have become accustomed to sharing everything and showing family members or others where we are and what we are doing. These shares are also done by reservists and fighters. The problem is that unwittingly appear in the background of our smiling picture a classified weapon, information about an assembly area , a special device that must not be revealed."
Selfie of a soldier, photo: GETTY
He also says: "We don't pay attention to this exposure at all because it is not in the center of our awareness, but because enemy elements are constantly following us. These pictures can teach them a lot about us and the IDF.
In this way, a very serious injury is unintentionally caused." Roy Shulman adds in relation to this that "in the past there was censorship and it was effective because there were only institutionalized media.
Today, anyone can upload a video to Tik-Tok or YouTube, and these are platforms external to Israel that censorship has no influence on.
That's why we as citizens need to think carefully about our photos before we publish them."
He substantiates his words with two examples from the rockets fired at the State of Israel: "A citizen can upload a picture of himself near the place where a missile fell, now without realizing it the name of the street where the missile fell appears in his picture. This way the enemy can have a reference point that will tell him where to aim the missiles more Good. In the same way, if civilians take pictures near a point that was severely hit by rocket fire, it also contributes to the enemy, because it strengthens his morale and his consciousness, not to mention that he will see the image of the destruction in the videos he will publish, the purpose of which will be to harm the consciousness in the country."
He goes on to explain, "It's not for nothing, for example, that Hezbollah takes close-up photos of our outposts that it damages. They then share these videos to weaken us, to throw us off balance and damage the trust we have in the IDF.
Now if we, for example, share these videos, then we are actually participating in his fight against Israel without intending to."
A rocket falling in Rishon Lezion (archive), photo: Koko
Another example Shulman brings up is related to the fact that sometimes reservists are photographed in IDF military uniforms.
"You should know that even if you protected the maps and took pictures from an angle where you can barely see them, the enemy still has the ability to enlarge the picture and identify things on the map even though it is almost completely hidden. That's how secrets are often revealed, and this without any bad intention. That's why people today need to develop an awareness of photographs theirs and check carefully that classified things are not revealed in them," he notes.
He adds that in addition to the injury mentioned, there is another severe moral and security injury caused by the distribution of videos and photos.
"Beyond the harm that comes from revealing secrets, there is also great harm from spreading the enemy's propaganda videos. For example, the video that was filmed on the first day of the war, in which Hamas terrorists were seen walking around and shooting people in Sderot, is a terrible video. After all, it damaged everyone's sense of security and the sense of trust in the IDF and the state.
People were afraid to leave the house because of the thought that if Hamas terrorists reached Sderot, they or other terrorists could reach every house in Israel.
From this point of view, whoever shared such videos hit the back of the neck," he states.
"I will give you another example of the damage we suffer in the shadow of social networks and our lack of awareness. People saw in London a demonstration of a million people against Israel. Following such a video that is distributed, fear is sown and we are losing the psychological warfare. Therefore, people should be more aware of reality and be careful with the materials and visual images that distributors" he concludes.
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