– Ukrainians have a clear advantage in the battle for fiction, says a cybersecurity researcher.
When the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had to thank Great Britain for the military assistance provided, it happened through a twitter-video where Shakespeare, David Bowie and Lewis Hamilton were hitched together with British tanks in use on the battlefield, accompanied by the music of The Clash and Gustav Holst.
Similarly, French President Macron’s decision to send weapons to Ukraine was met with one video who stated that “romantic gestures can be many”, in which roses, chocolates and a steaming French song were juxtaposed with clips of French weapons in use. The video was discussed, among others BBC.
Although the war on the ground has been heavy and demanding for Ukraine, there is one arena in which Ukrainians have appeared quite superior since the start of the war eight months ago: social media.
Ukrainians know what they are doing and are very smart, says senior researcher Niels Nagelhus Schia, who heads the NUPI research group on security and defense.
– Through its communication on social platforms, Ukraine has managed to portray itself as a modern, western country, while Russia appears to be the opposite: while Zelensky sends a live video of himself on the battlefield, Russia blocks social media and Putin is away from the people behind a big table. He helps garner support for Ukraine internally, but also globally, researcher Schia tells VG.
Millions of offers on Twitter
The big picture is that Big Tech picked a side early on, Schia believes.
Ukrainian Minister of Digitization, Mykhajlo Fedorov, 31, has never known a world without the Internet. The young minister is a central piece in the country’s reputation work, says researcher Niels Nagelhus Schia.
– When he wanted to guarantee the country a more robust Internet against attacks, he simply contacted Elon Musk with a message on Twitter and asked for the Starlink satellites, Schia explains.
Thus, a deal, which Musk estimated to be worth $ 400 million in the next year, was concluded in a matter of days, before the eyes of the whole world.
– Ukraine has been good at involving big tech and big tech, and Ukraine has had mutual benefits from each other, says Schia.
Splits moss
The researcher describes that social media struggled with its reputation after the Arab Spring, when it disappointed many and became a tool for authoritarian regimes. Neither Brexit nor the US elections subsequently helped to correct this impression.
– During the war in Ukraine, however, we saw that Ukrainians use it to bring people together. Timing was good for big tech entry, Nupi’s researcher explains to VG.
He still believes Musk’s recent acquisition of Twitter isn’t good news.
– He appears impulsive at the same time as him gets involved in the warand now he’s taken control of Twitter. This actualizes the debate on big tech and techno-feudalism, the researcher tells VG.
– The story is streamed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskii is an important piece in Ukraine’s struggle for world attention. The president, who has a background as an actor and comedian, is known as always as a strong communicator adapt his speeches to the relevant public.
From Zelenskii spoke to the Norwegian parliament he drew parallels between Ukrainian and Norwegian history and in his speech he mentioned both the liberation of the occupied countries and the train of 17 May.
“It hits us straight in the heart”wrote VG in the head.
Zelenskii is a man who undoubtedly masters modern forms of communication, says Niels Nagelhus Schia, senior researcher on digitization and cybersecurity.
He says social media has never played such an important role in a war before, like this one.
– It was said that “history is written by the victors”, but the reality in 2022 is that history is streamed. It is happening now, on the move, through videos taken from the front and the president addressing the population. So who has learned the art of meeting people plays an important role.
