Virtual Groups and the Triggering of Armed Conflicts

Abstract The article examines how virtual groups can trigger an armed conflict, and thus, the application of international humanitarian law ( ihl ). The emergence of non-State actors as central players in cyberspace, together with the increasing use of cyber operations in conflicts, makes the regulation of non-State actors in armed conflicts a topical issue. The triggering provisions in ihl require a level of organization of non-State groups, which do not necessarily resonate with the realities among virtual groups. To determine if the triggering provisions allow for a reinterpretation to fit better the potentially differently structured virtual groups, the article scrutinizes the legal bases for the organization requirements in the respective provisions and identities the underlying rationales. The article concludes that the legal bases for the organization requirement in the three provisions are distinct, but that none of them currently allows for reinterpretation.