New data from the Chinese social media platform TikTok highlight that fake accounts have spread incorrect information about Russia's war in Ukraine, reaching millions of people. Posts on TikTok have focused on targeting Ukrainian, Russian and other nationality users in Europe. Such multimedia content conveyed content designed to artificially amplify the pro-Russian perspectives on the war, the platform itself said in a report published Wednesday. Some of these accounts falsely presented themselves as media outlets, in order to make themselves more credible in the eyes of the online public.
Here's what's behind the misinformation on TikTok in the context of the war in Ukraine
A'investigation conducted by the BBCpublished Friday, identified 800 fake accounts who allegedly targeted users from European countries, who spread false claims about the purchase of luxury cars and villas abroad by senior Ukrainian officials and their relatives after the Russian invasion in February 2022. This certainly had the goal of modify and distort perception of the hypothetical reality of Ukrainian citizens after the Russian invasion.
A TikTok spokesperson told CNBC that the company had initiated an investigation into the accounts prior to the BBC investigation and that, since then, all identified fake accounts had been removed. They added that actively pursue those who seek to influence the community through deceptive behavior.
But identifying the networks of fake accounts when there is intelligence behind them – Russian in this case – constantly working to influence Western public opinion is not at all easy. Then considering i ties that Russia holds with the People's Republic of China it can be inferred that this control on the Chinese platform is not as rigid and efficient as one might think.
Most of the fake accounts identified by TikTok, approximately 13,000they turned out to be managed within Russia and spread the Kremlin's war propaganda in local languages, reaching users in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Greece.
However, it turned out that some of these accounts were operated by Ukraine and were tasked with artificially amplifying targeted narratives for the purposes of raise money for the Ukrainian army. Although videos shared on TikTok regularly reach millions of viewers, the combined followers of the fake accounts have exceeded one millionaccording to what was declared by the social media platform itself.
This new data comes alongside the previous reports of fake pro-Russian accounts identified by TikTok, which is ramping up self-investigation efforts in response to the growing international pressure on social media to counter fake users and misinformation. This development follows a week later UK accusations against Russiaclaiming that it conducted a year-long “campaign of malicious cyber activity” targeting politicians, civil servants and journalists to undermine British democracy.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal serves as a school for misinformation on TikTok
Still in the context of the United Kingdom, it is necessary to remember in this case the question of Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Cambridge Analytica story emerged in 2018 and raised concerns about the privacy and improper use of personal data to influence elections.
Cambridge Analytica was a data analytics company that provided political consulting services, using personal information collected from online platforms to profile users and influence their political behavior.
The Cambridge Analytica case led to a renewed interest and debate on the protection of online privacy, on ethical practices in the processing of personal data, on the role of online misinformation on the need for more stringent regulations to regulate the activities of companies that manage large amounts of user data.
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