Why we should not underestimate TikTok during a global crisis

Social Media platforms played a big role in past conflicts, but what is happening with TikTok in Ukraine right now has never happened before. Simple and immediate to use, the Chinese platform relies on an intelligent algorithm which spreads all kinds of contents to users around the world, entertainment as well as news.  

Even if TikTok influencers are often insulted for  their meaningless content  and despised for  their frivolous dancing, governments on both sides do not underestimate the potential of this platform, which also addresses matters of interest to influence public opinion. 

People constantly posting updates about the military escalation have earned the conflict the name of TikTok War. TikTok is used as an open source to try and understand Russian moves as well as providing immediate, quickfire footage of what’s happening as Ukrainians fight for their future. 

Life in #Ukraine trough Tik Tok trends  

n the context of the actual crisis, Ukrainian influencers, as the Russian army moves across the country, start to document the horror of a modern war. Users from other parts of the world have also started to join the discourse through videos and contributions paying tribute to president Zelensky and the Ukrainians.  

Through the hashtag #Ukraine on TikTok we found many Ukraine-based accounts that deal with the war. These influencers have been making videos following musical trends of TikTok to narrate their life during the invasion, becoming witnesses of what is really happening in Ukraine. We found a young Ukrainian girl named @Valerisssh. Her videos narrate what is happening in her country, mocking trends that are typical on TikTok. In a video she  talks about what a woman needs to have while living in a bunker, in another she shows the city after the bombing, with a surreal humorous tone and pop music.  

The power of social networks is now more evident than ever. Videos uploaded by users have become a relevant source of information, as well as a way to live a normal life. What is uncanny about these videos, is the alienating feeling of watching something you are used to and at the same time to see images of desolation and violence. TikTok is helping Ukrainian people to document what is happening right now, and the same happens in Russia where people try to denounce the Kremlin’s attempt to spread misinformation about the war.  

#Russia’s actions to control information: influencers paid by the Kremlin 

With the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has started carrying out a massive propaganda campaign. According to an investigation by VICE News, the Kremlin has paid some Russian TikTokers to affect public opinion about the military moves.  

These campaigns were launched at the beginning of the invasion and have involved a number of the highest-profile influencers on TikTok, some of whom have over a million followers. This strategy for spreading fake news and disinformation helps to keep Russian people at bay and create a tense climate outside its borders.  

The few protests that remained have been silenced by Vladimir Putin’s latest law, which criminalizes sharing content that the Kremlin decides is “fake” information about its armed forces, with punishment of up to 15 years in prison. Over a day after Putin signed the new bill into law, TikTok has already banned all uploads of new content from users located in Russian territory. Moreover the Chinese company has extended measures to block all non-Russian content, meaning that the only content Russian users can see is old videos uploaded by Russian-based accounts. 

In a tweet, TikTok has explained the situation: “In light of Russia’s new ‘Fake News’ law, we have no choice but to suspend live streaming and new content on our video service while we examine the security implications of this law”. The platform added how it had been a source of “relief and human connection during a time of war”, but the safety of the platform’ users and employees was the priority. 

The move to ban Russian users was in fact a precautionary measure to avoid the company or its users being put at risk of severe criminal penalties, rather than a measure to halt such content from being shared.  

“The first time a social media platform splits the content availability at such scale”, comment EU-based non-profit organizations. A measure that blocked the visibility of some 36 million users in Russia, a country where TikTok has numbers that are certainly not to be overlooked. This measure, however, does not help with tackling disinformation on the platform, since now the only videos Russian people can watch are old videos, many of which had been already manipulated by Kremlin’s propaganda. 

People dancing in front of Russian monuments and celebrating Russian women’s beauty to enhance the power of their native land. As well as posting videos that justify the invasion of Ukraine. “Bloggers back up Russian cruel invasion in Ukraine with how the Russian-speaking population have suffered in Donbass for the past eight years”, denounces in a video another Russian TikTok user, with the handle @yarra_m.  

“It is so obvious the script was prepared for them that people are already making jokes about it”, she carries on. A script was indeed made for them to read, along with guidelines on what hashtags to use, where to capture the video and when exactly to post it. The channel’s administrator also gave potential contributors a step-by-step guide on how to circumvent TikTok’s ban on uploads from Russian accounts. 

A series of prominent influencers all reading the same script, did not pass unnoticed among other Russian users,  several whom have posted videos using the same hashtags or audio tracks to criticize the influencers who they believe have sold out. How much money do they demand and who is paying it remains unknown. What we do know is that by now governments from all over the world consider TikTok a powerful means to win consensus. 

In response to the Kremlin’s propaganda, the United States did not lag. Biden’s administration gathered 30 top TikTok starson a Zoom call to give them key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine. National Security Council staffers and White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefed the influencers about the United States’ strategic goals in the region and answered questions on distributing aid to Ukrainians, working with NATO and how the United States would react to a Russian use of nuclear weapons.  

The White House’s director of digital strategy said: “We recognise that TikTok is a critically important place in the way the American public is finding out the latest news. So, we wanted to make sure people had the latest information from an authoritative source.”  

Main social media platforms no longer available in Russia: war fought on the Internet 

TikTok is not the first and only  app saying goodbye to Russia. Another social media giant is Instagram, following the blocking of Facebook on 4 March. As Instagram is accused of discrimination against Russian state media, the ban is the latest example of how Russian citizens are isolating themselves from the rest of world. The  application does not solely focus on  images and videos, but creates  a huge source of wealth for its users; many of whom earn money from sponsors by posting promotional content. Instagram’s closure quickly inspired the most famous Russian influencers. But not just this: also small, and medium sized companies have complained about losing the main platform that has long served as the sales tool par excellence. 

Much of the success of TikTok, however, is due to the fact that it is a medium of great visual impact and immediacy. The app’s algorithm favors those news topics and posts that are more popular and go viral: both pro-Ukrainian videos and pro-Russian contents have been dominating the social platform, which shows  that social media  has become a weapon of war.  

How the app is designed and how much information about the war  circulates  throughout Tiktok  and therefore increased the possibilities of fake content being spread amongst its users. Hence the decision to ban new uploads from Russia. But, in the end is it right to tackle disinformation by depriving people of a space where they inform themselves and can communicate freely? 

TikTok censored much more content than the app suggests , triggering strong Russian propaganda. Pro-government Russian accounts have been able to exploit loopholes,  allowing them to continue posting on the platform, albeit limiting information about the Ukrainian invasion. TikTok’s decision has deprived Russians of a global perspective on Kremlin’s actions, preventing millions of civilians from being informed about what is happening, not only in Ukraine, but in the rest of the world. This situation has favored the construction of filter bubbles – closed spaces where people are exposed to a limited set of news. 

This crisis has pointed out that social media platforms are not to be underestimated. TikTok is both a dangerous space for the circulation of fake news, and a free space for fighting disinformation. The more channels we must communicate, the more exposed we are to be influenced by what we see and perceive as true. Thus social media apps serve as new strategies governments exploit in times of conflict.  

War, however, is something else. Even if users around the world suffer the consequences of TikTok war, it is civilians in Ukraine who suffer the most. Men, women, children, and the elderly are the victims of non-digital weapons. Guilty only of being born in the wrong place.   

A cura di Alessia Ambanelli, Bocchini, Bramini, Pierluigi Iaquinta