So far, only fraudsters, propagandists, and comedians have benefited the most from the technology of deepfakes. And while the first two categories seem to be clear, the latter reminds us once again that even a low-quality, obviously fake diplomat still finds those who take it seriously. This means that fraudsters and propagandists are doing quite well.We have downloaded more than 10 thousand comments to four popular TikTok videos on a channel that makes primitive comic videos about politicians "on the front lines" using the technology of deepfakes. All this is to try to understand what share of commenters took these videos at face value. And the results are not very encouraging.Читати українською

In recent weeks, Russian media have been actively covering the shelling of Ukrainian territory while avoiding detailed discussions of Ukraine's aerial counterstrikes on Russian soil. This approach aims to shape a specific information agenda within Russia.Propaganda has taken on new emphases: abandoning humanity when covering attacks on Ukraine, harsher rhetoric, and a focus on revenge.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the latest edition of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that deliberately spread Russian disinformation.

On August 22, Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, was detained in France. This event provoked a violent reaction from Russian propaganda, which shouted about the collective West's attack on freedom of speech and another manifestation of Russophobia. The Russian media compare Durov to Julian Assange, trying to create an image of a hero who stands up to Western intelligence services. Propaganda uses this case to reinforce anti-Western narratives and intimidate Russians with the possible consequences of cooperation with the West.Also, after Ukraine passed a law restricting religious organizations with ties to Russia, Russian media began spreading narratives about an attack on the canonical church of Ukraine. Using manipulative comparisons with historical repressions, disinformers are spreading the thesis of alleged persecution of believers in Ukraine while ignoring the repression of religious minorities in Russia itself.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

Last week, Russian media were forced to focus their attention on the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region. The initial stage when propagandists didn't say what happened is over. Now, in particular, they have resorted to the old trick of talking about the future as if it had already come, and predict the future failure of the Ukrainians. They also attribute the temporary success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the arrival of Western military equipment. They also accuse the "Ukrainian Nazis" of using Russian civilians as human shields and of chasing them with drones during the evacuation.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

Last week, the Russian media devoted most of its news to Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region while demonstrating its helplessness. They were afraid to report the facts, so under the guise of news, they offered Russians words of sympathy, reassurance that Putin had everything under control and empty promises of ending the war by the end of the year. They also started spreading scare stories for Ukraine's Western partners about the threat of Ukrainians damaging nuclear power plants in both Kursk and Zaporizhzhia.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

The international prisoner exchange between Russia and the West on August 1 was an important event for both sides. Russia turned the exchange into a huge show emphasizing its power and influence. The Kremlin's propaganda machine created a picture of President Putin's determination and commitment to his citizens and presented the returned Russians as heroes. At the same time, the West received alleged "enemies of Russia" who were, in fact, journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative websites that target Russian disinformation.

On 26 July, the Summer Olympics started in France. Russia and Belarus were banned from participating because of their aggression against Ukraine. Moscow, demonstratively offended by the organizers, refused to broadcast the Olympics. However, even though propagandists urged their audience to ignore the Olympics, they covered it in detail.The central message of the propaganda is that pseudo-values are being cultivated in Paris. And the main narratives spread by disinformers are the collapse of transport and food, racism, the terrible crime situation, and the dirty water in the Seine, where "feces float." The performance at the opening of the Games was also labeled: "The freedom of the organizers of the event has turned into permissiveness and demonism."Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative sites that specifically spread Russian disinformation.

In late May, Tiktok announced that in the first months of 2024, it had disrupted 15 influence operations on the platform and deleted 3,001 related accounts. We were able to find more than 2,000 accounts that were created as part of a single Russian information operation revolving around the hashtag #it'snotmyukraine and aimed at discrediting the mobilization in Ukraine and the actions of the Recruiting office.Читати українською

On 21 July, US President Joe Biden announced his decision not to run in the next presidential election. This event became the basis for the spread of conspiracy theories about the Deep State in the United States, which, according to Russian propaganda, allegedly forces Biden to withdraw from the political arena in order to promote its candidate, Kamala Harris. Harris is presented as a puppet of this shadowy structure, and Donald Trump as a fighter against it. All this echoes Trump's own rhetoric.Читати українськоюRead about this and more in the new issue of our monitoring of Russian state media and manipulative sites that specifically spread Russian disinformation.

In June alone, the video with the hashtag #Recruiting office received 470 million views in Ukrainian TikTok (3 billion all-time). At the same time, 13 thousand posts with this hashtag were published within a month (62 thousand all-time). This is the first most popular hashtag in the News and Entertainment category. It is increasingly being used on the TikTokers pages, which seem to have nothing to do with the topic of the Recruiting office and mobilization. That's because this topic gets many more views.We decided to look at how and whom TikTok encourages to make videos about Recruiting office. To do this, we uploaded the latest posts by TikTokers whose videos appeared in the search results using the hashtag #Recruiting office. Along with the reach, we analyzed how many Russians are following this topic.Читати українською