Noam Lemelshtrich-Latar
Dr Noam Lemelshtrich-Latar is the Dean of the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the IDC Herzliya.[1]
During Operation Cast Lead, Israel's invasion of Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, Lemelshtrich-Latar worked with StandWithUs and Major Reserve Jonathan Davis of the IDC, to prepare IDC students with relevant information for the HelpUsWin.org social networking campaign in support of the offensive.[2]
State Cyber Advocacy
Along with Gregory Asmolov and Alex Gekker, Lemelshtrich Latar co-authored a paper on State Cyber Advocacy for the 2010 Herzliya Conference.[3]
The paper's main claims is that:
- a state must understand and use a wide range of new media techniques in order to create an efficient network of online influence. Specifically, we propose a model of a new media operations center (NMOC) operated by an NGO/research institute to mediate between the state and the networks.[4]
This 'state-network cooperation model' is based on the experience of the social media effort at the Sammy Ofer School in support of Operation Cast Lead.[5]
- With regards to Operation Cast Lead, the mediation role was taken by a non-governmental advocacy organization (Stand With Us) and an academic institution (the IDC). Both have young, motivated activists and students available and qualified for these kinds of tasks. In addition to the various situation rooms created, the IDC organized several offline briefings to instruct potential network leaders (primarily the student body) on how to build cooperation through and on the Web. The center coordinated its work with the Israeli MFA and provided promotion-friendly content. The government supplied guidelines for online activities (such as sharing talking points). Members of social networks and nodes of the networked sphere helped promote and distribute pro-Israeli content under the center’s guidance.[6]
State Cyber Advocacy divides the online audience into three groups, a 'blue team' representing the state and its network, a 'red team' representing opposition/enemy networks and a 'grey team' representing the uncommitted target audience.[7]
The paper states that: "if a state kept its public diplomacy efforts transparent this would ensure it will not become a propaganda-brainwashing tool or conduct illegal warfare online, thus loosing legitimacy."[8]
However, this apparent valorization of openness contrasts with a cryptic recommendation that:
- Work with the red audience should be based more on techniques from psychological warfare than on marketing and strategic communications. Therefore, this issue is mostly out of the scope of this paper.[9]
Affiliations
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya | Sammy Ofer School of Communications
Notes
- ↑ Faculty, Sammy Ofer School of Communications, IDC Herzliya, accessed 26 June 2009.
- ↑ Help Us Win - IDC Guerrilla Bloggers Fight war online, OPERATION CAST LEAD: IDC RESPONDS, p.55, The IDC Herzliyan, Spring 2009.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.3.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.3.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.26.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.19.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.19.
- ↑ Noam Lemelshtrich Later, Gregory Asmolov, Alex Gekker, State Cyber Advocacy, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 25 February 2010, p.19.
