Populations are being subjected to cognitive attacks that leverage a combination of psychology and new technologies, a former Canadian spy boss has warned, identifying China and Russia as key perpetrators.
David Vigneault, former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), delved into “cognitive warfare” while testifying before the Foreign Interference Commission on Sept. 27.
Vigneault described this form of unconventional warfare as an evolution of psychological warfare, which has long been used to degrade an adversary’s morale and will to fight.
Cognitive warfare is different in that it integrates “traditional psychological and information operations with the latest advances in computer, cognitive and neuroscience technologies,” says a CSIS intelligence assessment from September 2023 entered as evidence at the commission.
“It is a very pernicious use of technology, media, and better understanding of human psychology and how the brain works,” said Vigneault when asked by the commission to expand on the concept.
He said its overarching goal is to “change the way an entire population is reflecting [on] and thinking about an issue.”
Vigneault, who left CSIS in July, said one of the most concrete examples of cognitive warfare is the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) use of the strategy against Taiwan. Beijing intends to take over the island—which has been self-ruled with its own constitution and democratically elected leaders—since the Chinese nationalist government fled there in 1949 during the communist takeover of the mainland.
Vigneault noted how the PRC constantly “bombards” Taiwan with messaging on various issues beneficial to Beijing, which ramped up before the last election.
“Over time, the goal is to essentially change how enough people in the population would see an issue and, therefore, in this specific case, the fact that the annexation of Taiwan to the PRC is inevitable,” he said. The intent is to lessen Taiwanese resistance, said Vigneault.
The Taiwanese presidential election took place in January and faced a barrage of disinformation. The Democratic Progressive Party, which is more strongly opposed to a Beijing takeover, nonetheless kept the presidency with 40 percent of the vote.
In inaugurating the centre, then-Taiwanese minister of justice Tsai Ching-hsiang said hostile outside forces had expanded the intensity and breadth of cognitive warfare activities in recent years, trying to “boil frogs in warm water.”
Providing another example of cognitive warfare, Vigneault mentioned how Russia is using the strategy around its war in Ukraine, both inside the country and around the world, with content tailored for specific regions to shape public opinion in its favour.
NATO describes cognitive warfare as a “whole-of-society manipulation” which has “become a new norm, with human cognition shaping to be a critical realm of warfare.”
