Most attention relating to digital technologies and conflict has focused on cyber or information opera-tions between states.1 Yet, it is civil conflicts that have increased in number and become more protracted over the past decade due to a number of factors, in-cluding their increasingly internationalised charac-ter.2 Moreover, it is in these contexts that societies are more vulnerable and likely to be more affected by the misuse of digital technologies; and it is in these con-texts that states show less restraint in their behav-iour and can cause more harm to civilians. Mediating or facilitating a solution to civil conflicts, already an enormously difficult task, is compounded by the ways in which numerous actors use digital technologies to disrupt or delay conflict resolution efforts. For media-tors and others engaged in peacemaking efforts, un-derstanding these challenges is critical to designing already charged engagement strategies. 

This Conflict Series Brief attempts to shed light on some of the risks associated with the use of digital technologies that can negatively impact mediation or negotiation efforts in civil conflicts, and examines