UAE: How Houthi rebels used misinformation to disrupt global trade routes, explain experts
The Red Sea crisis has provided a striking example of how non-state actors can manipulate narratives to achieve strategic objectives, said a US Vice Admiral on Sunday. Kevin Donegan, former US NAVCENT & Fifth Fleet Commander, highlighted the Houthis' sophisticated disinformation campaign, which, he said, successfully altered global trade routes and economic stability.
'In the case of the Houthis, their disinformation campaign has really altered the narrative as it allowed them to achieve success; they've been able to amplify and make it seem like they're doing a lot more than they really are. The end results were that they completely altered the global supply chain,' he explained.
Houthis changed the routing of the global supply chain and impacted the cost of European and Asian trade; 'that's pretty incredible for a non-nation state,' he added.
Donegan, who was speaking at the International Defence Conference in Abu Dhabi a day before the world's biggest International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) kicks off in the UAE capital, emphasised that while information warfare is not new, the velocity and scale at which it can be executed today present new challenges.
The Houthis, he said, combined social media with traditional media platforms they had seized in 2014; they conducted daily press briefings where officials made misleading claims, often supported by unrelated or manipulated video content.
'In one case, they basically said they sunk the USS Eisenhower as it was leaving the Red Sea... Despite evidence that they didn't, it didn't matter because they had the pairing of television, print, daily press briefings, video, and even music videos to augment that,' said the Vice Admiral.
Ayesha Manzoor Wattoo, Director General of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), warned of the broader dangers of disinformation, particularly in political stability and public health. 'Consequences of disinformation campaigns are huge. If state and non-state actors start spreading disinformation during elections, people lose trust in the entire electoral process, leading them to not accept the democratically elected government.'
She cited Pakistan's 2024 elections, where a political party's propaganda falsely claimed the elections would be rigged, eroding people's confidence in the process.
She also highlighted how misinformation campaigns have been used to destabilise Pakistan's Baluchistan district. 'A small militant group, with the help of our enemies through their social media platforms, is spreading lies and malicious propaganda that Baluchistan wants freedom from Pakistan. This is just to destabilise and sabotage the progress and growth Baluchistan is going to see through the CPEC corridor.'
Wattoo noted how public health has also suffered due to misinformation, citing how fake news about COVID-19 vaccines led to widespread hesitancy in rural Pakistan. 'Because of the literacy rate of people living in rural areas, they were hesitant to get vaccinated due to so much fake news regarding the origin and the vaccination of the disease.'
Wattoo also referenced the role of Facebook in spreading racist and inflammatory content against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2007, which fuelled violent attacks. Similar tactics have been used in India and the UK, where false social media posts have incited protests and unrest, she added.
Liisa Past, Cyber Security & Strategic Communication Expert and Former National Cyber Director of Estonia, described this evolving landscape as a 'world of mutual assured doubt.'
She warned that AI has become both a threat and a tool in the information war. 'AI is a force multiplier for the attacker because it allows them to create content that talks and feels native,' she said, explaining how AI-generated content can convincingly mimic public figures and influential voices.
'Once you figure out one area, whether it's media regulation or cybersecurity, the threat actors shift their focus. We've seen this cycle repeat itself as nations defend critical infrastructure, only for attacks to move into the grey area of information operations.'
The panelists agreed that disinformation campaigns are becoming more sophisticated and pervasive, which calls for urgent countermeasures. 'The real fact of the matter is this isn't going to go away,' Donegan added. 'It's here to stay. So, the last thing that I'll say is it's about trusted information. That's really what we're talking about here — what information sources you can trust.'
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