Communication hijacking: strategic communication gone dark

Abstract

Purpose – As the polarized information environment and technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence, enable the creation and spread of malicious content online, strategic communication can be misused in unpredictable ways. This paper addresses an emerging, urgent challenge to organizational legitimacy by analyzing the phenomenon of communication hijacking as a technique of dark strategic communication and providing three illustrative examples of severe communication hijacking in Finland. Design/methodology/approach – Through a thematic review of the literature on communication hijacking and related concepts, we show which conditions must be met for it to occur. The theoretical findings are tested through expert interviews and three illustrative examples. Findings – We propose that there are three necessary conditions for communication hijacking to occur: the takeover is involuntary on the part of the organization, it co-opts an existing communicative element, and it changes this element to contradict its original purpose. The more serious each of these factors, the stronger the hijacking. We summarize these factors in the communication hijacking triad model. Research limitations/implications – As the study constructs a new concept, the keywords utilized could have left out some important related theories. Second, illustrative examples represent only one cultural context of Finland. Practical implications – The communication hijacking triad serves as a starting point for identifying influence attempts and attacks that organizations face. Understanding the severity of communication hijacking will help lay the foundation for management and response strategies, and the paper introduces a few suggested countermeasures to communication hijacking. Further, it describes a unique framework for identifying what went wrong and how to categorize the loss of control over a message or a communication arena. Social implications – Introducing a new societal phenomenon of communication hijacking will help make sense of the dis- and misinformation-related influence attempts. Originality/value – As one of the first attempts to clarify the emerging phenomenon in the field of communication management, the communication hijacking triad contributes a unique framework through which both academics and organizational leaders can detect the strength and type of increasingly common hostile communication takeovers.