Today, civilians can participate in war as never before. Through smartphones and
the internet, civilians can now contribute directly to military operations, whether they
are in an active conflict zone or on the other side of the globe. A civilian can, for
example, use an app to help military forces intercept threats, join a virtual network of
volunteers that conduct cyberoperations against a party to an armed conflict, or use
a crowdfunding site to donate funds to provide weapons to combatants. We call this
revolution in war fighting “Crowdsourced War.” This Article identifies this growing
phenomenon, demonstrates how it creates extraordinary new risks for civilians, and
recommends critical steps that States like the United States must take to address those
risks.
In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, new interpretations
of the law governing armed conflict took shape. Applying these new interpretations
to Crowdsourced War, this Article shows how civilians today may unknowingly
forfeit their protected status and be regarded as legitimate military objectives under
international law. Civilians participating in Crowdsourced War not only unwittingly
endanger themselves, they also endanger civilians living and working alongside them.
The spread of Crowdsourced War can also lead combatants to suspect all civilians of
being participants in war—and thus lawful targets.
To address these problems, we argue it is time to adopt new rules for Crowdsourced
War. States, including the United States, should revisit broad interpretations of the
law first adopted for a different kind of conflict—interpretations that now make vast
numbers of civilians newly vulnerable. States must also take greater responsibility
when they invite civilians to participate in Crowdsourced War, including by
ensuring that they do not put civilians at unnecessary risk and by informing them
of the consequences they may face. Finally, international humanitarian law must be
revised to account for this sea change in the way wars are fought. The International
Committee for the Red Cross, together with States like the United States that are
committed to the rule of law, should renew efforts to tighten standards for targeting
civilians. This is necessary to ensure that the era of Crowdsourced War does not
become the era in which the distinction between civilian and combatant completely
evaporates.
