War On Social Media
Social media has often been used as an instrument of political power. It can be used to spread dissent, disseminate disinformation and encourage activism. In recent years, governments in India, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and other countries have used internet blackouts to stifle pockets of dissent.
China built a Great Firewall to regulate its internet and now, Russia wants to follow suit. This leaves social media companies the difficult job of handling misinformation and censorship and confronting a growing list of challenges as war unfolds in Europe.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 21, 2022, using state media and online trolls to portray the Russian military as a peacekeeping force deployed to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians. It removed reports from Russian media that described the attack on Ukraine as an “assault, invasion or declaration of war.” As the invasion goes on Russia has blocked the use of Meta’s social media platforms, restricted the use of Twitter, and curbed Independent news networks.
Ukraine responded in kind to this social media war and ordered its telephone carriers to shut down network access to phones from Russia and Belarus so invading forces couldn’t get online and post their own videos or send their messages. Moreover, Ukrainian officials took to Facebook urging locals to remove road signs and disorient Russian troops.
How are Social Media Platforms responding?
Meta
- It demoted Russian state-controlled media outlets from its platforms and added new labels which will appear when users tap on links to these outlets.
- It will no longer let any advertisers in Russia create or run ads anywhere in the world.
- It is updating its Community Help resources to ensure Ukrainians, and others in the region can find reliable information from local UN agencies and Red Cross societies. To further amplify this, Meta will display a link to Community help on all its platforms for people in Ukraine or people migrating from Ukraine
- It is providing new links to mental health resources, while sharing data with relevant authorities to assist in support activities, like housing and immigration assistance.
- It will temporarily allow some political posts that would normally violate platform rules on Facebook and Instagram to be posted in the region in order to facilitate discussion around the Russian attack.
- It is taking steps to counter the spread of disinformation by tightening their regulation of content, like removing a deepfake video of the Ukrainian President surrendering to Russia.
- It is supporting emergency relief funding and encouraging donations to NGOs working for Ukraine on its platforms
“Now, when someone searches for a nonprofit to fundraise for on Instagram, we’ll start showing organizations like UNICEF and World Central Kitchen that are supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine first in many countries around the world.”
- Google-owned YouTube is blocking access to Russian state-funded media globally, while also removing content that ‘denies, minimizes or trivializes’ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Google stopped selling all ads in Russia, including those within search listings, ads on YouTube, and ad placements on third-party publishing partners.
- Google will match up to $5 million in donations to Ukrainian support programs throughout April.
- Twitter has issued a temporary ban on all ads in Ukraine and Russia and banned political ads, including those from state-affiliated media.
- Twitter is reviewing Tweets to detect platform manipulation, and ensuring appropriate action against it.
- It is also adding labels to Tweets that share links to Russian state-affiliated media websites, while it’s also reducing the circulation of this content. ( it’s detected and removed around 100 accounts that had been using the pro-Russia hashtag #IStandWithPutin)
- It has implemented an official Tor onion service to help Russian users maintain usage of the platform, despite restrictions enacted by the Russian Government.
Supporting Ukraine
Ukrainians are trying to inform Russians of the destruction inflicted upon their country and they are not alone. Many countries, including the US have sanctioned Russia and given aid to Ukraine. Most Big Brands have either pulled out of Russia completely or imposed a temporary ban on products in Russia.
Individuals like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Elon Musk are helping Ukraine in whatever way they can. Musk provided Ukraine with Starlink , which is a SpaceX satellite-enabled, high-speed internet service and promised additional equipment to aid Ukraine.
Support Ukraine by spreading awareness of the reality of the invasion which can be found on sites like this or by contributing to one of the many NGOs supporting Ukraine.
