Weaponizing the Web: The Dangerous Creep of Militarized Tech
The recent article, “Cyber Wars Are the New Battleground of Global Diplomacy,” highlights the growing threat of cyberattacks and the urgent need for international cooperation. While the threat is real, the dominant narrative emerging around cyber warfare too often plays into the hands of the military-industrial complex—paving the way for increased defense spending, expanded surveillance powers, and a securitized internet that undermines civil liberties and global peacebuilding efforts.
At Peace Economy Project, we believe that cybersecurity must not be equated with militarization. The rush to frame cyber threats as warfare reinforces a dangerous trend: framing every international challenge—be it climate change, migration, or digital threats—through a national security lens. This approach not only fuels arms races in the cyber domain, but also stifles investment in meaningful diplomacy, cross-border collaboration, and community-based cyber resilience.
It’s true that global actors—including state-backed groups—are exploiting vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure. However, turning the internet into yet another battlefield encourages governments to adopt heavy-handed strategies: militarizing cyberspace, criminalizing dissent, and intensifying surveillance of already marginalized communities. These measures often do little to improve real-world security and instead erode trust, transparency, and the digital rights of global citizens.
Furthermore, the proposed solutions—such as NATO’s assertion that a cyberattack could justify military retaliation—create more problems than they solve. Retaliatory doctrines risk escalating conflicts unnecessarily, especially when attribution in cyber incidents is notoriously difficult and unreliable. Diplomacy should not be reduced to a last resort; it must be our first response.
Rather than defaulting to war postures and sanctions, we urge policymakers to invest in peaceful, rights-based approaches to cybersecurity. That includes building robust, democratic internet governance, supporting civil society efforts to protect digital infrastructure, and ensuring that cybersecurity strategies center human rights, equity, and public accountability.
We also call for greater scrutiny of the ways private defense contractors and tech giants profit from the militarization of cyberspace. Much like traditional warfare, the cyber domain is becoming a profit engine for those who benefit from endless conflict, secrecy, and fear.
As global citizens and advocates for a peace economy, we must ask: Who truly benefits from framing cyber threats as warfare? And what would it look like to build a digital future rooted not in fear and control, but in cooperation, care, and collective security?
The future of cybersecurity cannot be left in the hands of those who see only enemies. It belongs to the people who envision a just and peaceful world—online and off.
