The White House isn’t the only one trying to steer the Ukraine debate on TikTok. Vice News says the Putin government is paying Russian TikTok phenom to share videos praising the invasion. According to the report, an anonymous operator on a Telegram channel tells creators what to post and when, what goals they need to achieve, and in other ways determines their content.
It is unclear who was behind the campaign, but the operator is thought to be a journalist. TikTok banning new videos from Russia doesn’t seem to be a hindrance; The channel manager sends influencers instructions on how to circumvent the ban, and at least some creators manage to stream their videos after the ban goes into effect.
TikTok did not comment on the pro-Kremlin campaign, but did mention to Vice its overall efforts to detect “emerging threats” and “harmful misinformation” surrounding Russia’s war against Ukraine.
While it’s unclear whether the Russian government is involved in this TikTok effort, there are important clues that the country is trying to control the online narrative about Ukraine. Social networks like Instagram were blocked, misinformation was published through embassy accounts, and media reports that contradicted the official stance on the war were criminalised.
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