How social media changes the way we see war

We see war now as we see everything else – through a screen. Genocide, displacement and mass violence are livestreamed to our phones, tucked between cat videos and advertisements for products designed to distract us.

We don’t choose to be spectators, we become them almost unconsciously – scrolling, watching and moving on. In the age of digital spectatorship, the key question is no longer whether we see human suffering, but what, if anything, we choose to do once we have.

Join Ali Rae in Episode Five of All Hail The Military – a five-part series that reveals the systems, power and hidden complicities that sustain global militarism – and the profound impact it has on us all.