How social media and open source intelligence are affecting the war in Ukraine
Lesson summary
Hi there everyone, I’m Jeff and this is Plain English, where we help you upgrade your English with lessons about current events and trending topics. JR is the producer and he has uploaded the full lesson to PlainEnglish.com/456.
Coming up today: This is the first modern country-on-country war in which social media and crowdsourced intelligence are having a major impact. In the second half of the lesson, I’ll show you how to use the English phrasal verb “play out.” And we have a quote of the week. Let’s get started.
Social media and open-source intelligence in the Ukraine war
Russia’s war in Ukraine is perhaps the first war in which modern computer technology is being used to affect the war. By modern computer technology, I don’t mean battlefield technology—things like drones and precision-guided missiles have been used in plenty of conflicts before. Instead , I mean things like social media, crowd-sourced intelligence, and cryptocurrency.
Start with social media. The conflict has been well-documented by citizens on both sides, taking photos, recording videos, and posting updates. Inside Ukraine, individual citizens show what life is like in different parts of Ukraine. Many show photos of destruction, Russian tanks in the streets, packed train platforms, and tearful goodbyes at airports. In previous conflicts, the world would see only the images that journalists could capture—and there was always a limit to how much could be captured. Today , the war is playing out in full view of anyone with a free internet connection.
Another type of social media post is more documentary, sharing what daily life is like. One TikTok video is titled, “My typical day in a bomb shelter.” Other posts share strategies for shopping in a supermarket during wartime. Anastasiia Lenna, a model who was named Miss Ukraine in 2015, now posts pictures of herself holding a machine gun, urging others to join the fight.
Finally, Ukrainian soldiers and citizens are using social media to tell stories from the battlefield. Many are grim; others are humorous. In one video, a group of Russian tank drivers was stuck in the mud. An elderly Ukrainian offered to tow them back to Russia. In another video, a Russian tank in the city of Bucha was blasting audio messages telling Ukrainians to remain calm. A local man walked up to it and destroyed it with a grenade.
The flood of images has made the war seem real around the world. Western countries were always going to be on the side of Ukraine, but it was never clear how much the West would risk to defend it. Social media content helped mobilize public opinion and likely solidified political backing that country leaders needed to inflict sanctions and send weapons to Ukraine .
Social media has also contributed to a phenomenon known as crowd-sourced intelligence. Previously, war intelligence was gathered almost exclusively by governments, which had access to GPS imagery and local intelligence—spies on the ground, in other words .
That is still vital. But in this war, intelligence relevant to the war is openly available to anyone willing to look for it. The Ukrainian government is encouraging people to post photos and information about Russian troop movements, while hiding information about Ukrainian troop movements. This gives military analysts a more complete picture of Russia’s movements than would ever have been possible before.
Other sources of information can be even more valuable. For example, the first Russian tanks began moving toward Ukraine at 3:15 in the morning on February 24. American researchers about 6,000 miles away knew it by studying traffic data on Google Maps. The road between Belgorod, Russia, and Kharkiv, Ukraine, showed a “traffic jam” in the middle of the night.
Researchers knew to look at that road because they had previously analyzed high-resolution satellite photos that showed a buildup of military vehicles in the vicinity. When the tanks started moving, the handful of cars on that road were delayed, signaling to Google Maps that there was a traffic jam. The researchers tweeted their findings right away. The first moves of the war were, therefore, visible to the world minutes after they started.
This is just one example of how the mass of specialized data can be used to uncover information that previously would be unknowable for days or weeks. Here’s another example. A nineteen-year-old American college student runs a Twitter account called @RUOligarchJets. He analyzes publicly-available flight records for private planes and matches the planes with a publicly-available registry of plane owners. In this way, he’s able to see, and publicize, the movement of Russian oligarchs—or at least their planes. Other efforts focus on the movement of private yachts. This intelligence can help governments see who is moving assets to avoid sanctions.
Open-source data will be useful in documenting the truth of the war. Part of Russia’s domestic strategy is to claim that Ukraine was committing a genocide against Rusisan-speakers inside its borders; to say that Ukraine was the aggressor in the war; and to say that Russia was the peacekeeper. All of these claims—and many more Russian ones besides—can be proven false with publicly-available satellite photos.
Here are a few other ways technology is being used in innovative ways. Russia has tightened its grip on information within its borders: they have shut down the few remaining media outlets and passed a law punishing anyone who would spread misinformation—what we would call true information—about the war.
A group in Lithuania set up program that allows Russian speakers abroad to dial random phone numbers inside Russia, so that individuals can tell the truth to Russian speakers and hopefully change their minds against the war. It’s called “Call Russia.”
Cryptocurrency is proving to be a valuable asset to the Ukrainian side. Traditional bank transfers can take time . In wartime, cash is difficult to obtain and difficult to spend. But crypto transfers are instant and can be spent right away. The Ukrainian government is accepting worldwide donations of cryptocurrency, and has raised over $100 million so far, across a variety of currencies. The money is being used for humanitarian relief and military supplies.
Call Russia
That direct phone call program is interesting. The founder of that web site said he made some calls to his own friends in Russia. He said the Russian speakers he talked to were all in a completely different information environment and he said it was like talking to people on another planet.
You can imagine how this would backfire and solidify people’s opinions in favor of Russia’s propaganda. Imagine if someone called you from Russia and told you that Ukraine was committing genocide—would your opinion change? So he gives tips to callers. He says, don’t scold people, don’t offend people, and be prepared to hear opposing viewpoints. He says, don’t talk about who’s right and wrong, just give information about the human impact of the conflict in Ukraine.
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