Military Intelligence Service drowned in the work: “Double as many staff needed”
© Belga
The military intelligence service wants twice as many staff, given the increasing « hybrid war and cyber threat, which is constantly going on ». Think of Russia who tries to play Belgian public opinion through social media.
Around 1,000 people work today at the Military Intelligence and Security Service ADIV. « I would like to see a doubling by 2040, » says Major General Stéphane Dutron, the CEO of ADIV. « That is very ambitious. But that seems necessary to further develop the organization in a correct way. »
Foreign manipulation
According to Dutron, the various conflicts and wars that take place require much more work from the intelligence service. In addition, there is also a « hybrid war and a cyber threat, which is constantly going on ». « That requires great maneuverability, » Dutron told the Belga news agency.
For example, ADIV is constantly pointing to more foreign influence of Belgian public opinion, including from Russia. During the recent elections of July and October last year, the intelligence service detected some so-called « Foreign Information Manipulation » actions on social media. And there was also « a substantial increase in anti-migration stories, in combination with strengthening an anti-establishment sentiment ».
The military intelligence service also saw « coordinated events » from abroad at the beginning of last year, with the intention of touching the minds even further. Also around the situation in Gaza, foreign actors tried to compete against each other via social media posts, among other things.
Tap
Adiv points in it annual report Also on the fact that setting up such influencing campaigns has become increasingly easier, through the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). « That is used for the creation of memes, avatars and also accounts. »
Read too. Russia also recruits people online for sabotage and espionage in Belgium
Finally, the Belgian military intelligence service does not exclude the fact that, for example, the Chinese government – « Champion in terms of manipulation » – Personal information from users of extremely popular Chinese apps such as Tiktok, Shein but also Temu and Capcut (an app for video editing, ed.) Used to train the Chinese AI systems. Specific than in how population groups outside of China express themselves and show their emotions. « This allows the Chinese government to use trained AI systems to make targeted videos, intended to influence public opinion outside of China. »
