#106: Russian Disinformation
...and the boy with the red poppy
Hi.
You are reading Understanding TikTok. My name is Marcus. I am a research fellow at HAW Hamburg with a printed tweet pinned next to my desk citing Hannah Arendt: “You see, my plans for the summer are no plans.” Not quite true but here is your TikTok update:
🇷🇺 Russian Disinformation – rebranded
🥀 The boy with the red poppy
🛵 What else
🇷🇺 Russian Disinformation – rebranded
While the future of Russia’s notorious "troll factory" Internet Research Agency remains uncertain after Prigozhin’s one day revolt, Russian propaganda seems to work fine – at least in Germany. Russian state-owned video news agency Ruptly is working from new offices in Berlin and hiring people (Tagesspiegel). Reminder: Russian state media is banned in the EU (Council of the EU). Russian propaganda is successful in Germany as CEMAS has reported: Between the spring and fall of 2022, levels of agreement with pro-Russian propaganda narratives increased significantly among the German population (CeMAS).
Russian state media channels have rebranded, according to ISD. SNA News, the German arm of banned Russian state media organisation Sputnik has been posting on Telegram, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. One account called Bloß mit Biss (meaning “Just with a bite”) presents itself as a “biting look at the hot topics in German-speaking countries.” It focuses on German domestic politics, revolving around the themes of economic anxiety, energy politics, the impacts of sanctions on Russia for ordinary German citizens and attacks on the Greens party (part of the coalition government), who have strongly supported military aid to Ukraine (ISD). None of BmB or Satellit’s accounts carry labels applied by social media platforms to inform audiences of their connection with the Russian state.
Interestingly the “Bloß mit Biss”-TikTok account is following only one other account. It is called NAKT (nackt with a “c” is german for naked) a self proclaimed news channel (74.1K Followers 3.8M Likes) with an additional YouTube account under the name Politik Aktuell (Current politics) promoting amongst others Germany’s right-wing populist party AfD. The videos many times include decontextualized video material with statements by politicians plus a commenting text banner. An easy and fast way to spread unchecked narratives.
Here is more on Putin’s Informational Assets Post-Prigozhin Coup.
🥀 The boy with the red poppy
In the last couple of days a slowed down version of Manu Chao’s anti-globalization hit Me Gustas Tu from 2001 appeared on many For You Pages. The corresponding videos show the hands of a soldier with a red poppy – a multi-layered symbol of hope for a peaceful future, worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community.
The young soldier in the video puts the flower behind his head and starts a little dance. You can see a blue and yellow coloured Ukraine badge on his arm and a skull and bones sticker – normally a symbol for death – here in a pink ‘Hello Kitty’ version. The video was reshared, remixed and re-enacted with commenters hinting at a backstory. Here it is:
Nikolay Lebedev, known as Nekoglai, (Russian: Николáй Фёдорович Лéбедев; born November 14, 2000, Chișinău) is a Moldovan TikToker and Twitch streamer. On November 7, 2022, he posted a video in TikTok with a parody of a Russian soldier throwing Ukrainian grenades, with song Rasputin by the German group Boney M. On November 9, he was detained and sentenced to deportation to Moldova. On November 10, a video spread on the Internet in which Nekoglai shaved bald and having visible bruises (Global Voices). In February 2023 Russia has placed the Moldovan TikToker on a wanted list (The Moscow Times).
Since then the creator (12.2M Follower 463.6M Likes) seems to have joined the Ukrainian forces as his Instagram and TikTok account indicate. The notable reach of his videos fueled by an “authentic” story yet again (Dancing Soldier) show the relevance of individuals (Ordinary People versus Mainstream News) in spreading political narratives and the power of earworms after TikTok’s aural paradigm shift (Abidin & Kaye). ¿Qué voy a hacer?, je ne sais pas…
🛵 What else
Oh, boy. A TikToker told his 400,000 fans he was a Russian special forces warrior fighting US marines in Ukraine, but he turned out to be a Chinese grifter selling vodka online (Insider)
I am sorry. I am not into the Grimace Shake Trend. Here is the New York Times. Here is Know Your Meme. Go waste your time…
Ok. TikTok parent ByteDance launches music creation and audio editing app in closed beta in the US (Techcrunch)
I do not know where to start here: TikTok, Snapchat, and video games are responsible for the riots in France, says Macron (Kotaku)
Lots of youth don’t have access to a therapist who is both queer-competent and Orthodox-competent. The Jewish Queer Youth account wants to change that (Times of Israel)
TikTok challenges Facebook as second biggest social media platform in South Africa (CTGN)
The Sound of summer (Attentione)
Anything you would like me to cover? Any questions? Happy to discuss in the comments. And if you dare please recommend this newsletter to a person you know. Thanks so much! Speak soon. Ciao, Marcus.