[Each angle of view] An era where security cameras broadcast war

The 1991 Gulf War was the first war to be televised live. CNN opened a new page in broadcast coverage by being the only Western media to broadcast live the US invasion of Baghdad in Iraq. CNN quickly emerged as a global news channel, but at the time, a shot of a cannonball exploding into the night sky on TV cameras looked like a scene from a video game. It was criticized as ``entertainment of war'', where people sit comfortably in the living room and consume other people's tragedies like a game full of real feelings. This is also why Americans felt no moral qualms about the war. Qatar's satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera, known as the "Arab CNN," broadcast live on Facebook, along with Britain's Channel 4, the Iraqi government forces' battle to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was seized by the Islamic State in 2016. According to Bloomberg, it was "the first time a news organization has broadcast a military operation over an extended period of time on Facebook Live." Iraqi government forces have provided realistic body camera footage taken by soldiers with cameras attached to their bodies. Although the purpose was to show a real battle against the Islamic State, which was good at online public opinion warfare, there were many criticisms that it was a show of cruel tragedy. SNS is also playing an active role in the current Ukrainian war. The tense situation, including the movement of Russian troops, the bombing of buildings, the resistance of citizens, and the evacuation procession, has been relayed to the world through YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter. There are more than just one or two images of citizens trying to defend against tanks with their bodies, citizens throwing Molotov cocktails, and fathers leaving their young daughters to go to the battlefield. People around the world were outraged by the tragedy of war that was vividly conveyed on SNS in the palm of their hands. The Ukrainian government is also actively using SNS. President Zelensky declared martial law through Facebook, and since then he has been sending messages to the public on his own SNS to confirm their willingness to fight to the death. Government ministries and agencies are also using SNS to communicate the wartime situation both domestically and internationally. Hashtag relays of people around the world praying for an end to war and peace are also being actively carried out on SNS. The war has expanded to the cyber front as well. Hackers around the world have volunteered as the Ukrainian government announced plans to create an IT force to counter Russia's cyber invasion. The international hacker group Anonymous has already revealed that they are behind the hacking of Russian state television and the cyber attack on the homepages of major Russian institutions. Security cameras on the street will also relay the scene. On YouTube, there are several domestic and foreign channels with titles such as 'Live Cams' and 'Real-Time Ukraine Situation' that show footage from security cameras installed in Kiev and other major cities. There is almost no special content, but there are many people who watch as they do not know when and what kind of conflict will occur. The video has been deleted now, but until recently, it was also distributed on YouTube channels of Korean public broadcasters such as KBS and MBC. The IP addresses of some security cameras are open to the public, so anyone can easily view and transfer their screens. The camera, which observes 24 hours a day without special coverage and processing, plays the role of a war broadcaster in some ways, but it is somewhat embarrassing. Although the purpose is to show the truth as it is, it is hard to deny that the desire to see spectacles and shocking images like war movies is working rather than peaceful and everyday images without anything special. For some reason, the sci-fi movie "Transcendence" starring Johnny Depp came to mind while looking at the screen of this security camera. A genius brain scientist connects the world's networks and data networks, accumulates all the information, and then transplants it into an artificial brain to become immortal even after death. I remember getting chills down my spine when I saw the scene where security cameras all over the world were connected all at once and an incredible amount of data was accumulated. Of course, this is an over-the-top cinematic imagination, but it's a day that reminds us of the fact that we live in an era where we can see security camera footage in front of our house from the other side of the world if we want to. Digital information technology is changing everything from war to life in this way. Yang Sung-hee / JoongAng Ilbo columnist