How People are Fighting the Ukraine-Russia Conflict Through Social Media

 

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, social media sites have blown up with users documenting the war. Similarly to the rise of photojournalism during the Spanish Civil War, political leaders now have to navigate the virtual battleground for public opinion in the midst of conflict. Despite an influx of Russian propaganda, Ukraine seems to have a foothold on social media users all over the globe, with many showing an outpour of support for the country.

Some influencers in Ukraine have used their platform as a tool to show the world the dark reality of life in the war-torn state. TikTok user @valerisssh has garnered millions of views on her TikToks showing her daily experiences, with facetious comedic music and titles such as "My typical day in a bomb shelter" and "How I evacuated from Ukraine". The Ukrainian Army has used Twitter as a platform for hourly updates on the war, shared with their over 400,000 followers (@ArmedForcesUkr). Even stars like Anastasiia Lenna, Miss Ukraine 2015, and Andriy Khlyvniuk, lead singer of a famous Ukrainian band on tour, have left behind their previous influencer lifestyles to fight the war on the frontlines.

Putin hasn't been blind to this phenomenon. To isolate Russians from the truth about what's happening in Ukraine, he has banned Facebook and allowed only limited access to Twitter. He has also passed a law that bans the use of the word "war" in reference to Ukraine. To tackle global public opinion, Russian influencers have continued to push the propagandist rhetoric about genocide in Donbas. Twitter user @davenewworld_2 shared a video of multiple Russian influencers giving the same exact speech defending their country through TikTok (link). 

Now, the United States government has entered the social media battle. National Security Council staffers and White House press secretary Jen Psaki rounded up 30 TikTok influencers over Zoom to brief them on the war in Ukraine. While social media has been obviously influential on previous international affairs, this reaches a whole new level. I'm interested to hear your thoughts about this and see how it unfolds.

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