The Fight to Control the Narrative in Russia

The war in Ukraine isn’t just being fought with bullets. The Russian government is in a battle to control the narrative through social media and the news, both at home and abroad. In this “Age of Disinformation,” tech companies faceoff with the Kremlin to take down propaganda while hacktivist collectives, such as Anonymous, attempt to bring the truth to Russian citizens.

Big Tech vs Russian Media

Vladimir Putin’s government has a long history of using media sources to spread misinformation and propaganda to manipulate the people. The war with Ukraine is no different. However, following a request from the European Union’s president, tech companies are making it more difficult this time. Google’s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, and Chinese-owned video-sharing platform TikTok have blocked Russian state-run media outlets, including Sputnik and Russia Today (RT), in Europe.

Other tech companies are taking action as well, but the changes are more modest. These efforts include labeling content originating from the government, suffocating the Kremlin’s reach online, and taking down fake accounts that post pro-Russian content. Most of the businesses involved are making these changes carefully to slow down the flow of propaganda without ruining their relationships with Moscow. If angered enough, Russian officials can simply pull their citizens’ access to a platform, and few global businesses can survive losing the entire country.

They also don’t want Russian citizens to lose total access to the truth. With no social media, Russians won’t see the videos of Ukrainian schools being blown up, vacuum bombs hitting Ukrainian television stations, or bunkers full of frightened people praying to survive the next 24 hours.

After Twitter stopped Russians from advertising on its platforms, the Kremlin blocked access to the app. This move came just a few hours after it restricted access to Facebook for allegedly violating the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens by blocking Russian outlets.

“They’re trying to walk this very fine line … we want to stand up to Russia, but we also don’t want to get shut down in the country. How far can we push this?” says Katie Harbath, the director of technology and democracy at the International Republican Institute.

Russian Citizens

Many are confused how any Russian could support President Putin’s efforts. With government control of television broadcasts comes control of much of the information the people receive. Putin is able to promote ridiculous falsities about Ukraine’s aggression, and his audience has little reason not to believe him. The people have been consistently brainwashed with disinformation. The average Russian citizen may not be as outraged as an American or Canadian. They may have been convinced Nazis run the Ukrainian government, Ukraine is murdering Russians, or that the country is in cahoots with the United States to produce nuclear weapons to kill Russians.

That isn’t to say no one sees through the lies or that Putin enjoys the full support of his people. Even without access to the whole truth, there are skeptics who oppose the invasion. Protests against this war have popped up throughout Russia, though the police shut them down as quickly as possible.

Hacktivists Bring Truth

The infamous yet controversial group called “Anonymous” summoned hackers worldwide to target the Russian government following the invasion of Ukraine. Anonymous claims to be made up of “working-class people seeking a better future for humanity… who agree on a few basic principles: freedom of information, freedom of speech, accountability for companies and government, privacy and anonymity for private citizens.” The group has previously targeted the United States and Chinese governments, the Church of Scientology, and ISIS, and the stated motives include disrupting objectives, fighting oppression, and exposing secret information.

Anonymous claimed responsibility for pulling down the web pages of RT, Russian oil giant Gazprom, and numerous Russian and Belarusian agency websites, including the Kremlin’s. The group also said it accessed the Ministry of Defense database and was provided credit for hacking into Russian state TV channels and posting pro-Ukraine content.

https://twitter.com/YourAnonTV/status/1497678663046905863?s=20&t=tS55f6gw9gMUy9MWyDYSBg

Due to the nature of cyber incidents and hacking, it is difficult to prove whether all these claims are true; however, someone or something has wreaked havoc on Russian government websites and television streaming. The fight between the Russian government, social media conglomerates, and hacktivists worldwide will only continue to escalate as this war progresses.

~Read more from Keelin Ferris.