A recent Prime Ministerial Decree (DPCM), published in the Official Journal No. 103 of May 6, 2026, redefined the operating procedures of the Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic (CISR), a body responsible for managing critical situations. Specifically, those "systemic crisis situations involving aspects of national security, including scenarios related to hybrid threats" (Article 1, paragraph m).
The inclusion of this "threat" among those worthy of relevance seems to be a direct consequence of the broad public and media debate that has developed over the last 10-15 years on the so-called "hybrid warfare." This concept, however, remains without a single, internationally agreed-upon definition. It is closely related to other controversial and debated terms, such as "geopolitics" or, more exotically, "Reverse Brzezinski." Not to mention the not insignificant connections with traditional conspiracy theories.Early examples used to illustrate the concept of "hybrid warfare" include the civil war in Syria, which broke out in 2011, and the conflict in Ukraine, which began in 2014. These would have provided a concrete context for analyzing and understanding the complex dynamics that characterize modern warfare, thus contributing to the growing attention paid to certain phenomena in the context of national and international security.
"Hybrid warfare" is described as a broad-based strategy integrating conventional, irregular, informational, and cyber warfare, employed by state and non-state actors to achieve political objectives without necessarily resorting to an armed attack or a formally declared war. This strategy aims to exploit the enemy's vulnerabilities, identifiable across a broad range of contexts, in order to destabilize it. The tools employed include information and communications technologies, which enable the attack on targets that were previously only achievable through conventional weapons and military action. Examples of such attacks include operations against critical infrastructure, such as energy, healthcare, financial, communications, and transportation, which can also be compromised by cyberattacks capable of causing significant damage. These operations are complemented by traditional disinformation, propaganda, and psychological warfare campaigns.
Even a cursory historical analysis would show that the pervasive threat of "hybrid warfare" is not a recent phenomenon, but rather an intrinsic element of armed conflicts between states, which have always involved the use of conventional and unconventional weapons. In other words, wars have been increasingly more or less "hybrid" over time, but the current use of the term is so broad and elastic that it is applicable to a wide range of situations and therefore of extremely limited use.
A relatively new aspect in this field is the identification of "cyberspace" as one of the main arenas of confrontation and electronic communication tools as some of the most decisive weapons. Limiting ourselves, for the sake of brevity, to the "information war," fought through websites and social media platforms, we can see that there is very little that is truly new.
Disinformation and propaganda have been employed on the internet since its inception, and people have always been targeted by operations aimed at manipulating their opinions through the dissemination of narratives that present domestic and international events in a way that either enhances or contradicts the interests of those in power.
Currently, most people are continuously connected to one or more social media platforms and have access to a wide range of information and disinformation sources. In certain situations, people may take a more active role than in the past. However, the nature of this role is not easily predictable, so people can act as "amplifiers" of disinformation campaigns or, conversely, act as obstacles to their spread.
Consequently, it is becoming increasingly crucial for governments to equip themselves with technical and legislative tools to control "cyberspace" in order to maintain the ability to partially or completely restrict access to internet communications, a practice already adopted on numerous occasions in several countries. Furthermore, given the inherently elusive nature of this matter, those in power can easily resort to explanations that, when most convenient, invoke some type of "hybrid threat," without having to provide in-depth explanations. For example, to justify an electoral victory or defeat, or the causes behind a particular event. A government could label as a "hybrid attack" emanating from the enemy of the moment (perhaps external) anything posted on a social media platform characterized by a significant presence of dissidents who consistently post content critical of the government and/or supportive of the positions of some of its opponents.
The Prime Ministerial Decree cited above has been viewed by many commentators as an appropriate legislative adjustment to address the invisible hybrid threats of the near future, forgetting to note that it also represents a further measure potentially restricting the freedom of information and communication.
Pepsy
https://umanitanova.org/minacce-invisibili-pericoli-concreti-minaccia-ibrida-e-restrizioni-delle-liberta-di-informazione-e-comunicazione/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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