In today's #vatnik soup I'll continue discussing propaganda and disinformation. During the information age, winning the online propaganda battle can be just as important as gaining the advantage on the traditional battlefields.
1/11
For example, 🇺🇦 is pretty much dependent on the modern weaponry from the West. These weapons will be delivered as long as the people support these efforts. If people either lose interest or start resisting them, the war will be prolonged and 🇷🇺's war efforts become stronger.
2/11
Propaganda and disinformation are by no means new phenomena. Textual "fakes" have been around since the invention of writing, and already in Ancient Rome propaganda was spread through poems and texts imprinted on coins.
3/11
WW1 was the first war in which mass media played a significant role. Propaganda in mass media had two goals: keep up the morale and keep the people informed about what occured on the battlefield: bl.uk/world-war-one/…
4/11
In WW2 the efforts to demonize the opposite side became a popular thing. Nazi Germany depicted British troops as cowards and Russians as dehumanized beasts. Propaganda leaflets that contained demoralizing messages were dropped to enemy territories from planes.
5/11
Even programs like Lend-Lease required the support from the people, and this required effective propaganda.
In Russo-Ukrainian War, we haven't really seen any technological breakthrough with propaganda and disinformation efforts.
6/11
Photo and video editing are still the most common way to spread disinformation, even though we saw some
creative use of video game material at the early stages of the war. We've seen photoshopped cocaine on Zelenskyy's table, Same Hyde's face on a Russian passport...
7/11
... fake Ukrainian fighter jets in MH17 related satellite images and Argentinian lawyers depicted as the "Ghost of Kyiv". There's also been a lot of images and videos where the context is changed. A video from military exercise in 🇫🇮 was descritbe as an preparation for war. 8/11
Photoshops are easy, fast and cheap to produce and they spread quickly around social media. Videos require much more effort, but we've seen a few. Crude and unbelievable deepfake video of Zelenskyy surrendering surfaced in March, 2022.
9/11
In the near future, most photos and videos will be done by AI. We already have algorithms such as Stable Diffusion and Dreambooth that create realistic looking photographs, and these algorithms become better all the time.
10/11
In near future, we will have interfaces that take commands such as "Ukrainian soldier burying a civilian in a forest" and then go on and create a
realistic depiction from this description.
That will truly be the age of confusion and mistrust.
11/11
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In today’s Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.
1/20
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.
2/20
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.