The Russian-Ukrainian War is raising questions about the role of social media in spreading accurate or inaccurate information. Specifically, how do the actions of users on TikTok affect the information they distribute?
Russian tanks circulate on TikTok
The Russian tanks have started to appear on TikTok. The social network is a place where young people go to for news. However, the site has been flooded with conflict-themed footage, raising questions about the Ukraine war.
Many of these videos were recorded on the border between Russia and Ukraine. Some of them are reportedly fake. These include live streams with gunshot audio and sirens. Others were made to solicit donations.
Some of these posts were sent to millions of TikTok users. But the company does not reveal whether it takes actions against these content violations. It has not released any data about the reach of the content, or what its algorithms do to surface the endless stream of short videos.
Researchers are also concerned that the social network is not doing enough to stop the spread of misleading videos. “As the war in Ukraine escalates, it is becoming clear that the Kremlin has deployed an army of disinformation through their state-controlled accounts,” writes Sam Gregory, program director of the nonprofit Witness.
While the Western versus Russia meme plays well in developed nations, it plays poorly in many non-aligned countries. There is a lot of misinformation in the global media. In addition to spreading propaganda, terrorist groups have used social media to mobilize supporters and amplify their messages.
TikTok is also facing complex issues regarding the spread of misleading information. As a result, the company has increased its resources to respond to harmful misinformation. They have teamed up with independent fact-checkers and have even created a digital literacy hub.
Influencers with Ukrainian connections have switched from travel blogs to frontline dispatches. One of these bloggers, Kristina Korban, goes live daily to half a million TikTok followers.
Korban has set up a fundraiser, with the goal of raising $1 million. She has already raised $28,000. Her account has become a major source of war updates. People have been asking her everyday whether she and her family are safe.
A report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that Russian social media accounts are spreading disinformation about the Ukraine invasion. The organization said the “aggressive disinformation campaign aimed at framing the Ukraine’s military as Nazis, and the invasion as an attack against the Ukrainian people.”
Some influencers were yanked from Weibo, a Chinese social-media platform. Other publishers are engaged with TikTok cautiously, fearing the potential consequences for free speech.
Misinformation spreads on the video sharing platform
In the recent weeks, TikTok has become the battleground for information about Russia’s war in Ukraine. With the popularity of the video sharing platform, millions of viewers have been exposed to unverified information. Many users have been calling out the fake nature of the footage.
In an attempt to debunk the footage, some users have repurposed audio from previous viral videos. Others have dubbed gunfire sound over planes taking off. This repurposing of content has led to new forms of misinformation.
Video content related to the conflict in Ukraine is spreading across the social media platforms, especially Facebook and TikTok. While there are many legitimate videos posted by Ukrainians that show Russian forces advancing toward the border, there are also many false claims. For example, there are accounts on the platform claiming that the Blue Angels, a U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron, have been deployed to the region.
A recent study conducted by NewsGuard, a company that monitors the trustworthiness of news sources, found that when a person signed up for a TikTok account, they were bombarded with disinformation within 40 minutes. The analysts had to scroll through the feeds in order to find real, reliable content. Some were populated with pro-Russian propaganda. But others were accurate.
Some of the footage in the video was authentic, but it’s unclear whether the creators violated the content policy of TikTok. Researchers have not yet determined whether the video was created specifically to create traffic for the account or for monetary gain.
Several livestreams on TikTok have tried to replicate scenes from the war in Ukraine. These streams are accompanied by sirens and are often filmed from a window or rooftop. They’ve even been dubbed with sound from old conflict-related videos.
While the most popular video on TikTok purported to show a Ukrainian soldier parachuting out of an airplane, this was not the only video that contained the same content. There were also videos of a Russian paratrooper in Ukraine. However, these were debunked.
TikTok has made a commitment to cracking down on false information. It has banned some videos that are deemed hateful or incite violence, but some of the misinformation has persisted.
Reposting and “dueting” with another user’s video
A cursory look at the TikTok app gives one the impression that the Ukrainian war is a hot topic for Russians. However, a closer examination of the platform’s user base reveals that the war is not the only gambit on display. In the midst of the turmoil, many Russian users have taken to the platform to share their musings with the world.
Some of the more interesting posts have been those involving the use of the platform to document and report on their own experiences under siege. The video below is one such example. While the video may have garnered an impressive 26.8 billion views, there is little data to back up its authenticity. Luckily, the company has opted to remove the clip on a rolling basis. Regardless, the app still retains a large portion of its Russian-speaking user base. So how did it manage to get there in the first place?
One possible answer is that the company’s decision to suspend its service in Russia was spurred by a series of ill-fated events. Among them, the Russian government’s failure to comply with a court order that prevented a rogue regime from relocating its entire population to the eastern part of the country. For this reason, TikTok is currently restricted from livestreaming to its platform, which prevents users from sharing their experiences in real time. Even so, many Russian-owned accounts are still posting and reposting videos. Likewise, there is still a plethora of other pro-Russian content on the platform.
This is in spite of the fact that the site has recently adopted a policy against content that violates intellectual property rights. As such, users who post content deemed to be in violation of these restrictions have been penalized, in the form of a suspended account. Despite the temporary setback, the platform remains a hotbed of political debate. Whether TikTok can successfully restore its users’ trust in its product remains to be seen. Until then, the best way to stay on the right side of the social media abyss is to be cautious with what you share. That said, there is no denying the importance of a slew of newsworthy information.
Social media’s role in spreading accurate or inaccurate information
If you want to know how accurate or inaccurate information about the Ukraine war spreads, you should look to social media. Both sides have used social media to further their agendas and to disseminate misleading information. The emergence of technology platforms such as TikTok have had a major impact on the spread of disinformation. But while technology companies may have the capacity to limit the dissemination of information, it remains to be seen whether they can do the same for wartime propaganda.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, disinformation about the conflict has been a major topic of conversation on social media. The profusion of misinformation is upsetting many Ukrainians. Some users deliberately post false information for a variety of reasons, including to generate traffic. Others are unaware of the facts and want to create controversy.
TikTok, one of the largest video sharing apps, has been a hotbed of false content. In fact, many of the videos on the site feature first-hand accounts of the war. One example is this video featuring Ukrainian armed forces storming Mariupol. However, the video lacks landmarks to verify it was filmed in Ukraine and features a repurposed audio clip. Despite its authenticity, the video has garnered more than 26.8 billion views and the date of its posting is unclear.
Unlike other popular apps, such as YouTube, TikTok has been unable to set clear rules on how wartime videos are shared. Instead, it has relied on ad hoc measures to remove fake videos. Currently, the company is partnering with independent fact checkers to address the issue.
It is important to note that while TikTok is a major source of misleading information, it is not the only social media platform with this problem. Many other social networking sites are likewise prone to spreading false narratives about the Ukraine war.
According to Ryan Locher, a student at the American University in Washington and a TikTok creator, “The truth behind wartime narratives is not always easy to come by. The constant flow of coverage makes it difficult for users to assess whether footage is authentic. This is especially true in a time of breaking news events.”
