Russian disinformation surged on social media after invasion of Ukraine, Meta reports

Russia-aligned hackers compromised the social media accounts of dozens of Ukrainian military officers, attempting to upload videos of defeated and surrendering Ukrainian soldiers before being stopped by Meta, a new report revealed.

The report from Facebook and Instagram’s parent company detailed a surge in social media disinformation this year, including an increase in contentlinked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It also indicated an uptick in domestic disinformation and propaganda in countries around the world, suggesting that tactics pioneered by foreign intelligence agencies are now being used more widely.

“While much of the public attention in recent years has been focused on foreign interference, domestic threats are on the rise globally,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president for global affairs.

Russia and its allies are major players in the disinformation realm, according to the report, with groups linked to the Kremlin spreading disinformation about its invasion of Ukraine while amplifying pro-Russian conspiracy theories at home.

Meta traced the effort to take over the social media accounts of dozens of Ukrainian military leaders back to a shadowy hacker organization known as Ghostwriter, has been previously linked to Russia’s ally Belarus. Ghostwriter has a history of spreading content critical of Nato, and has tried to hack email accounts.

“This is a tried-and-true thing that they do,” said Ben Read, director of cyber-espionage analysis at Mandiant, a prominent US cybersecurity firm that has tracked Ghostwriter’s activities for years. Last year Mandiant said digital clues suggested the hackers were based in Belarus, though EU officials have previously blamed Russia.

Belarus and Russia have not responded to the claims. Since its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Russia has battled big tech firms to control online information flows, banning Facebook and Instagram, and throttling Twitter by slowing its service.

In the place of accurate journalism, the state-controlled media have pumped out discredited conspiracy theories about Ukrainian Nazis and secret US bioweapon labs.

Social media firms have responded with a flurry of measures to crack down on Russia, including removing or restricting Russian state-run media, targeting disinformation networks and labeling content it does not remove. Twitter this week announced it would also label state-controlled media from Belarus.

Still, critics say this has not been enough to stem the flow of disinformation, and Meta’s report shows the problem continues. It outlined other disinformation campaigns tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including one involving dozens of fake accounts that spread anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.

Another hacker network filed thousands of fake complaints about Ukrainian Facebook users in an effort to get them kicked off the platform. That network hid its activities in a Facebook group supposedly dedicated to cooking.

The report on disinformation comes years after Russia launched an intensive disinformation campaign on Meta platforms in an attempt to influence the 2016 elections, drawing attention to the huge implications of the issue.

The prevalence of Russian-linked propaganda and disinformation on social media shows that a more aggressive response is needed, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a London-based non-profit that supports greater social media regulation. A study by the group found numerous Facebook mentions of Russia’s discredited bioweapon conspiracy theory.

“Despite taking action against state channels under enormous pressure, Meta is failing badly to contain major disinformation narratives that benefit Putin’s regime,” said Imran Ahmed, the center’s CEO.

Meta said it would be rolling out additional policies in the coming weeks and months to make sure it stays ahead of groups looking to exploit its platforms. Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy, noted that groups attempting to spread disinformation and propaganda are adapting their tactics too.

“We would expect them to keep coming back,“ Gleicher said.