The British Army has announced the creation of a brand new brigade whose sole task will be to wage a war on social media.
The 77th Brigade will comprise of 1,500 specially trained soldiers who have been hand-picked from regular service and will begin waging a war of words on Facebook and Twitter.
Speaking to the Guardian, an Army spokesperson said:
“77th Brigade is being created to draw together a host of existing and developing capabilities essential to meet the challenges of modern conflict and warfare. It recognises that the actions of others in a modern battlefield can be affected in ways that are not necessarily violent.”
Having learned lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Brigade will be focused on controlling the narrative surrounding global conflicts while tackling the fact that extremism has embraced social media as a potential weapon.
The Brigade -- whose work is described as 'non-lethal' -- will be based in Hermitage, Berkshire and will have the daunting task of tackling issues from the reported Russian insurgency into Ukraine, to Islamic State's continued control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The 77th is being named in tribute to the Chindits, a British guerrilla force created during the Second World War and led by Maj Gen Orde Wingate. The Chindits would use unconventional and sometimes controversial tactics to cause chaos within the Japanese army and in turn undermine the confidence of its troops.