MISINFORMATION AND FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY: VULNERABILITIES EXPLOITED AS WEAPONS IN HYBRID WARFARE
MISINFORMATION AND FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY: VULNERABILITIES EXPLOITED AS WEAPONS IN HYBRID WARFARE

Author(s): Andrei PAVĂL
Subject(s): Security and defense, Military Sciences
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: misinformation; disinformation; hybrid warfare; functional illiteracy; reading competence.
Summary/Abstract: The intense competition below the threshold of armed conflict, or at the fine margin of escalation characteristic of hybrid warfare, exploits the information environment and the social tendencies that drive the distribution and recirculation of media content. In this context, the terminological overlap between misinformation and disinformation under a single translation, combined with vulnerabilities associated with functional illiteracy (operationalized as a deficit in reading competence), may amplify the effects of manipulation. This article examines the mechanism through which an external actor can convert these vulnerabilities into an operational advantage. The study employs descriptive bibliometric analysis and conceptual mapping of the academic literature within the main knowledge stream, complemented by documentary analysis of the same bibliographic sources. The outcome is a conceptual model with an amplification threshold that links functional illiteracy to the spread of misinformation and to its potential exploitation in hybrid actions. The study is limited to open sources, proposes a conceptual model with an amplification threshold, and does not empirically validate the formulated relationships.

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