TY - JOUR

T1 - State, media and civil society in the information warfare over Ukraine

T2 - citizen curators of digital disinformation

AU - Golovchenko, Yevgeniy

AU - Hartmann, Mareike

AU - Adler-Nissen, Rebecca

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - This article explores the dynamics of digital (dis)information in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. International Relations scholars have presented the online debate in terms of ‘information warfare’—that is, a number of strategic campaigns to win over local and global public opinion, largely orchestrated by the Kremlin and pro-western authorities. However, this way of describing the online debate reduces civil society to a mere target for manipulation. This article presents a different understanding of the debate. By examining the social media engagement generated by one of the conflict's most important events—the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine—we explore how competing claims about the cause of the plane crash are disseminated by the state, media and civil society. By analysing approximately 950,000 tweets, the article demonstrates how individual citizens are more than purveyors of government messages; they are the most active drivers of both disinformation and attempts to counter such information. These citizen curators actively shape competing narratives about why MH17 crashed and citizens, as a group, are four times more likely to be retweeted than any other type of user. Our findings challenge conceptualizations of a state-orchestrated information war over Ukraine, and point to the importance of citizen activity in the struggle over truths during international conflicts.

AB - This article explores the dynamics of digital (dis)information in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. International Relations scholars have presented the online debate in terms of ‘information warfare’—that is, a number of strategic campaigns to win over local and global public opinion, largely orchestrated by the Kremlin and pro-western authorities. However, this way of describing the online debate reduces civil society to a mere target for manipulation. This article presents a different understanding of the debate. By examining the social media engagement generated by one of the conflict's most important events—the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine—we explore how competing claims about the cause of the plane crash are disseminated by the state, media and civil society. By analysing approximately 950,000 tweets, the article demonstrates how individual citizens are more than purveyors of government messages; they are the most active drivers of both disinformation and attempts to counter such information. These citizen curators actively shape competing narratives about why MH17 crashed and citizens, as a group, are four times more likely to be retweeted than any other type of user. Our findings challenge conceptualizations of a state-orchestrated information war over Ukraine, and point to the importance of citizen activity in the struggle over truths during international conflicts.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - misinformation

KW - Social Media

KW - Twitter

KW - MH17

KW - Ukraine

KW - Russia

KW - Information warfare

KW - fake news

KW - Social network analysis

KW - international conflict

KW - citizens

KW - civil society

KW - disinformation

KW - Digital Data

KW - social data science

KW - digital computational science

U2 - 10.1093/ia/iiy148

DO - 10.1093/ia/iiy148

M3 - Journal article

VL - 95

SP - 975

EP - 994

JO - International Affairs

JF - International Affairs

SN - 0020-5850

IS - 5

ER -