"Fact check" fake site also war in the SNS era January 13 22:09

“

#I support Russia” One day in March last year, this hashtag suddenly spread on social media.

Since the military invasion in February, there have been many posts expressing support for Ukraine, mainly from Europe and the United States.

Why.

Analyzing the flow of information originating in Russia reveals the reality of skillful "information manipulation" that tries to influence public opinion by mixing "fakes".

Russia continues to send out “propaganda” that justifies its own actions.

On the other hand, Ukraine counters with international PR strategies.

The information warfare set up by both sides is intensifying, causing divisions in the world.

In the age of SNS, we will approach a new dimension of “information warfare” that involves citizens around the world.

(NHK Special "Century of Confusion" coverage group)

The fact check that ``the hand of the corpse is moving'' is also ``fake''

In April last year, a massacre of civilians was revealed in Bucha near the Ukrainian capital.

The horrific images shocked the world.

Western media suggests the involvement of the Russian military.

Satellite images proved that the bodies had been lying there even before the Russian army withdrew.

On the other hand, the Russian government denied any involvement and accused Western media reports of being "fake," and the Russian media also developed a tone in line with the government's claims.

At that time, a website appeared that denied Russia's involvement, giving specific reasons.

"War On Fakes"

Many articles were posted on websites and SNS that claimed to have objectively "fact-checked" Western media reports and articles criticizing the Russian military on SNS.

It was sent in English, Spanish, Chinese, etc.

Regarding the satellite image of Bucha shown by Western media, he claimed that it was "unreliable because it is unknown when it was taken."

He also claimed that the video of the corpse on the street was ``fake'' and ``a planned media campaign'' as ``the hand of the corpse is moving''.

However, subsequent verification by multiple experts and NGOs has concluded that this site itself is creating "fakes".

"Eyes on Russia" run by a British NGO.

Since the military invasion began, we have verified more than 10,000 pieces of information originating in Russia.

Regarding the Bucha massacre, the Russian side's allegations will be examined in detail based on public information, while specifying the sources of the information.

In response to the claim that ``it is unknown when the satellite image was taken,'' the website of the provider company confirmed the shooting date.

In addition, the angle of the sun's light in the image was also verified to determine the date and time the image was taken, proving that it was taken before the Russian army withdrew.

"They are trying to discredit the evidence that the massacre actually took place in Bucha," it said.

Fake is 1.2 times more shared

However, in reality, these “fakes” continued to spread throughout the world.

When a research institute analyzed posts shared on SNS, there were 1.2 times more posts stating that "Russia did not commit a massacre" compared to posts stating that "Russia did a massacre." It was shared.

Spread from Russian embassies around the world

How did information including "fake" spread to the world?

When we analyzed the flow of information in detail, we found a method of large-scale diffusion using SNS.

The analysis was about 10,000 Twitter post data, including URLs for articles on Russian sites.

The trigger was a tweet by the Russian Foreign Ministry posted in early March, shortly after the site appeared.

Russia's Foreign Ministry tweeted,

"Journalists use their expertise to spot fakes with common sense."

Accounts of Russian embassies and consulates around the world reacted quickly to this post.

About a minute later, the Russian Embassy in Canada retweeted.

Then, within 24 hours, 17 Russian embassies around the world, including Japan, India, and the United Kingdom, retweeted the same post one after another and spread it to their followers.

Further accelerating the spread were influencers around the world who professed to be pro-Russian.

Among them are Western cultural figures and journalists who have a large number of followers, and they say that the massacre in Bucha is "suspicious of the satellite image", and that they are "a great detective" regarding the verification of the article on the Russian side site. , There was also a post to introduce.

Through such diffusion, articles on the site spread to more than 15 million followers worldwide within two months.

Manuals allegedly instructed by the Russian government to state media

Furthermore, the possibility has emerged that the Russian government has directly instructed the state-run media to transmit information including such fakes.

According to a manual obtained by the Dossier Center, a think tank in the United Kingdom, that the Russian government has distributed to state media and other sources, ``The United States and its allies in Ukraine continue to claim that they have developed nuclear and biological weapons. is important.”

In the manual, many images and videos with messages were posted so that the information could be easily spread on SNS.

In one image, a Ukrainian soldier is hiding behind a stroller on the battlefield, while a Russian soldier is standing defensively in front of the stroller, with the comment "This is the difference."

The think-tank believes that the Russian soldiers will appear brave and righteous to cowardly Ukrainian soldiers.

According to the Russian government, this think tank is trying to appeal to people's hearts and move international public opinion in their favor by disseminating untrue information that includes manipulation of impressions and fakes around the world through SNS and the Internet. When you think, you analyze.

Maxim Daver, Dossier Center, a think tank in the UK:

"In order to achieve their goals, the Russian government is trying to fill the information space with correct information from the Russian perspective. It upsets and confuses people. The amount of biased information that flows gives people the impression that everyone thinks so, and as a result, they think it's public opinion."

A bot account appeared and spread “#I support Russia”

In this way, a large amount of information transmitted by Russia has penetrated all over the world and caused divisions.

Hashtags pro-Russia " #IStandWithRussia

"

"#IStandWithPutin"

This is a hashtag that suddenly appeared on Twitter on March 2nd last year and spread.

Since the start of the military invasion, there has been a rapid increase in the number of hashtags and messages expressing support for Ukraine, mainly from users in Europe and the United States, on Twitter.

Contrary to this trend, on March 2, for some reason, the hashtag expressing support for Russia/support for Putin spread and became a trend on Twitter for a while.

The British research agency "Casm" noticed this phenomenon and conducted a detailed analysis.

Carl Miller, British research institute "Casm" "

I woke up one morning and noticed that 'support Russia' and 'support Putin' were trending on Twitter. Until then, SNS was filled with support for Ukraine. But it was trending not just in the UK, but in other countries around the world.It was unbelievable.”

In an attempt to figure out what was going on, he analyzed data from roughly 350,000 posts using the two hashtags and found "unnatural patterns."

Analyzed approximately 10,000 accounts that frequently posted pro-Russia hashtags.

Based on the language and content of the post, we categorized the region and group to which it belongs in the world.

Then, eight large groups emerged.

Approximately 1,100 accounts classified in blue in the figure showed an “unnatural pattern”.

Many of these were new accounts created on February 24, when Russia began its military invasion, and on March 2, when pro-Russia hashtag posts surged.

After that, almost nothing was posted.

It was also found that some of the accounts were created with stolen IDs, and the investigative agency analyzes that they are a group of artificially created "bot accounts."

In a way that resonated with this “unnatural” message, the groups that frequently expressed their support for Russia were the “African region” group shown in yellow and purple in the figure, and the “South Asian region” group shown in red and green. It was the contributor of the "Regional" group, the so-called "Global South" region.

“March 2”, when a bot account appeared and pro-Russian posts suddenly spread.

In fact, this day was the day the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution condemning Russia.

As a result, the resolution condemning Russia was adopted with a majority of 141 countries, including Western countries, but 35 countries, including India, Africa, and other parts of the Global South, abstained.

A pro-Russia hashtag trend unnaturally happened behind the scenes of the resolution.

Investigators believe it was an attempt to influence international public opinion in line with the UN resolution.

Carl Miller, British investigative agency "Casm": "

We must be careful to uncover from the data who manipulated public opinion, but on the day the resolution was passed at the United Nations General Assembly, Russia did not manipulate public opinion. "There was a strong political and diplomatic motive to manipulate public opinion, and it is believed that the Global South was trying to separate the Western accusations, and to prevent sanctions being imposed by global solidarity."

The world brought about by “weaponized” SNS

In response to the Russian side, which uses SNS as a "weapon" and launches a large-scale information operation, the Ukrainian side also asks advertising agencies around the world to appeal "braveness to stand up to a huge invader", and to promote the international community. Compete with a big PR strategy that tries to get on your side.

The fierce information war between the two sides has developed into a situation that divides the world.

Under such circumstances, how should we deal with information?

Peter W. Singer of the United States, who has studied information warfare in the SNS era, points out that the awareness of each and every one of us is important.

Peter W. Singer, a researcher on information warfare in the age of social media

"The purpose of Russia's information warfare using social media is not to spread goodwill towards Russia. The purpose is to get in and expand it.There is no effect in Japan yet, but there is a possibility that it will have an impact in the future.On social media, the charm as a story surpasses the truth.Even if it is fake. The power of compelling and radical content can be a weapon that empowers the forces of good and evil, and each one of us contributes to it. You have to realize that it's not a nation, it's a 'click' of you and me."

Regarding the actual state of the information warfare over Russia and Ukraine, see the NHK special "The 6th Information Warfare" Russia VS. I will tell you in detail.

NHK participates in international efforts to combat misinformation, disinformation, and fakes, and conducts various coverages aimed at restoring the integrity of the digital space.

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