Ukrainian Social Media Campaign: Analysis of its Effects on the U.K.

Ukrainian Social Media Campaign: Analysis of its Effects on the U.K.
Introduction
The term “cyber war” has become an overly used terminology, especially in the wake of the outburst of social media campaigns all over the world. Scholars define this term in various way, for instance, before the advent of social media, cyberwar was defined as a combination of computer-based attacks on enemy’s technical and operational facilities (Robinson 73). Based on this definition, cyberwarfare is a modern war tactic that allows a country to win over its enemies without getting engaged in actual war and spilling blood. Based on this interpretation of cyber war, the Ukrainian and the UK governments’ intense social media campaign against Russian invasion have been the safest approach toward combating Russian ground invasion. Both countries’ official social media accounts, especially Twitter, have been creating countless memes and podcasts to denouncing and malign Russian invasion without actually getting involved in the combat. This trend manifests the fact that the current mode of cyberwar will become a fundamental part of both countries’ waring policy as it is safer and much effective and completely precludes the chances of this war escalating into a global war.
Scholars of international politics are almost unanimous in the opinion that the Russia-Ukraine war of 2022 is the first of its kind manifestation of a full-scale cyber war, involving state-sponsored and non-state-sponsored cyber-attacks from both sides. The most prominent aspect of this cyber war is the extensive use of social media campaigns, especially from Ukraine, even before the actual invasion, to earn sympathy and support from its western allies, especially Britain and America (Ciuriak 2). Critical analysis of this Ukrainian social media campaign against Russia reveals that Twitter and Tiktok have been the two social media platforms that Ukrainian has used extensively to malign Russia and its invasion. One can easily find many memes, graphic images, short video clips of the victims of the war, and other social media posts that stirred up western countries, especially the United Kingdom and America. Consequently, both the British government and the public lent complete moral, financial, and physical support to Ukraine; blue and yellow social media badges and other state-level support measures indicate growing British support for Ukraine.
The CNN Effect and Democratic Peace Theory are the two concepts of international relations that can explain the extent and outcome of the Ukrainian social media campaign and its effects on the British government. Additionally, the British government's long-term history of sustaining and nurturing democratic ideals provides valuable insight into its tilt toward the Ukrainian government. Thus, this essay uses these concepts and references to analyze the mechanics and dynamics of Ukraine's social media campaign on Twitter and Tiktok with specific reference to the time between December 7, 2021, and March 25, 2022, respectively, to assess its effects on shaping British government's response.
Ukrainian Social Media Campaign Against Russia
Scholars worldwide have agreed that the emergence of social media has brought about drastic social, political, and cultural aspects in human societies. For instance, social media posts, podcasts, and memes have lessened the intensity and horror associated with war. In the same way, graphic images on social media showcasing maimed soldiers, crying mothers, devastated infrastructure, and lack of food and security create a sensation worldwide and compel the government to make unduly swift responses (Biały 70). This type of immediate provocation and the associated swift response from western nations is best described under "the CNN Effect ."The Ukrainian social media campaign has intensified this effect and compelled western nations, including the U.K., to provide physical, military, and other forms of assistance to the Ukrainian people, including providing easy visas (Robinson 302).
Using social media has become one of the greatest online weapons in the modern age of cyber-war; it has become imperative for a nation or ethnic or social group to mark its social media presence with attractive and well-tailored content. These days, the use of social media to advance one's narrative by making it very attractive and justified has become a necessity. Additionally, a warring nation also uses social media to make its people aware of false propaganda against the country broadcast on social media. In this way, this nation makes nation immune to any psychological manipulation by the adversaries. It is easily observable that at the current time, Ukraine is making full-fledged use of social media to win the favor of western power. It has successfully earned sympathy and practical support from the United Kingdom owing to its effective propaganda, mainly via Twitter and TikTok.
Ukraine's intense and widespread social media campaign against Russia started in December 2021, well before the invasion. The first social media meme to be posted publicly was the Ukraine government's official Twitter account posted the famous "headache meme ."This meme showed different headaches with the caption: Living next to Russia" (figure 1UGO December 7). Within a short period, this meme became viral as thousands of people retweeted and shared it across the globe. The most significant aspect of this initial cyber-attack on Russia was that it was launched when the international community discussed this regional crisis (Knuckey). As expected, this tweet made a deep impression on western countries, especially the United Kingdom, as U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson immediately took part in talks with U.S. President Joe Biden and other European leaders to devise a peaceful solution to the tension (Knuckey). This type of social media communication to turn the public and international community's opinion in its favor is best described in terms of The CNN Effect.
These pre-war social media posts mostly uploaded on Twitter from Ukrainian government’s official accounts created an impression of all is right to Ukrainian people. These memes and podcasts were aimed not only to malign Russia but also to appease and palacate Ukrainian people in the backdrop of impending war. For example, in a tweet uploaded on 13 January from Ukrainian government’s official Twitter account, one of the famous cartoon character of the simpsons series is shown delivering a lecture to audience. This lecture apparently aimed to address the fears of Ukrainian people as the sentence written on the board indicates negates the chances of war; instead, it belittles and ridicules Russian threat by calling it a “bad neighbor” (Figure 4 UGO January 13). The appeasing effect that this meme generated was similar to the impression of triviality of Russian threat created by the headache meme relased by Ukrainian government beforehand. Thus, Ukrainian social media propaganda also attempted to decrease the feeling of apprehension, fears, and panic that Ukrainian people were experiencing due to impending Russian threat.
The CNN Effect and Ukrainian Social Media Campaign
Historical records of various global conflicts reinforce the CNN Effect's validity and effectiveness in shaping international opinion against a regime. For instance, during the Gulf War of 1991, the extensive media coverage of Kurdish refugees, highlighting their miserable conditions, significantly altered the western government's stance on the Iraqi government. Consequently, the U.S. government launched Operation Restore Hope, and all scholars believe that the horrific stories of Kurdish refugees in American media forced the government to undertake this operation (Robinson 302). Similar to this, one can find out countless accounts of the penetrating impact of a media campaign on global powers' policies. In present times, the use of social media is acting like a global media platform, just like CNN and other news channels did in the 1990s. As a result, the Ukrainian government is effectively capitalizing its global popularity to malign Russia and the Russian government and win the favor of the western powers.
The CNN Effect is a phrase used to describe the impact of advanced and effective use of communication to provoke a primary favorable response (Robinson 301). The close and critical observation of the Ukrainian social media campaign against the Russian invasion makes it clear that Ukrainian social media experts are working day in and day out to create highly compelling social media content capable of making a multidimensional impact across the globe. One can observe a steady and consistent stream of highly varied content comprising podcasts, vlogs, TikTok videos, and Tweets making headlines on social media and drawing the world's attention toward Russian aggression. One can estimate the effectiveness of Ukrainian from the fact that on March 22, Russia blocked social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter in Russia, alleging these sites were used to spread highly discriminating propaganda against the Russian Federation (Kumar). The following paragraphs provide an in-depth discussion of the use of various social media tactics and propaganda with specific reference to Twitter and TikTok. This discussion elaborates on the dynamic and mechanism of the Ukrainian social media campaign and how it generates a compelling and sympathetic response from the United Kingdom in the context of the CNN Effect.
Scholars are of unanimous opinion that social media has become a hotbed of propaganda, criticism, and the spread of disinformation all over the world. Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing Ukrainian social media campaign, examples exist when effective use of social media has produced desirable results in terms of defaming and defeating enemies in the cyberspace. In 2011, after the commencement of Syrian civil war, Syrian Free Army and Syrian Electronic Army got engaged in spreading a maligning social media campaign against the Syrian government and successfully put the Syrian regime on the back foot (Shehabat, 1). Even before the Syrian war, in 2010, the effective use of social media platform, especially Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube triggered emotions of the common Arabs living in countries like Tunisia and Egypt. This social media campaign variously called as “Facebook revolution”, “Twitter revolution”, and “YouTube revolution”, created a storming wave of uprising against hegemonic Arab governments called The Arab Spring (Wolfsfeld et al. 116). These historical facts make it more clear how the social media become a massive propaganda force these days.
Related to social media campaigns and their effective use in cyber war is the concept of echo chambers and algorithm. Algorithm is a set of instructions that regulate the working of a software, and use of algorithm in social media has assumed immense significance as it directs and controls the flow of specific social media messages toward a particular section of society. Based on an individual’s personal favorites and dislikes, the algorithm sends this person the content that perfectly fits to his or her preferences (Lazer 1091). This spread of biased and tailored social media content creates another phenomenon related to cyber war: the echo chambers. This terms refers to a collection of biased social media content that a person is exposed to and that ensures that nothing related to opposite viewpoint reaches a targeted audience (Lazer 1092). The use of social media algorithm and echo chambers have been instrumental in facilitating bot the UK and Ukraine’s social media campaign against Russia.
On December 27, 2021, the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian government shared a picture showing a violent beastly monstrous creature standing beside a genial and gentle dog (figure 2 UGO December 27). The hairy monster is presented here as a metaphorical representation of Russia's apprehensions against Ukraine's NATO membership. The labeling of the monster indicates that human rights, press freedom, and fair elections are the Russian fears that compel it to stop Ukraine's involvement in NATO. This labeling is of particular interest as it effectively creates a negative impression of being an anti-press, anti-human rights, and anti-democratic country. This type of social media post from the Ukrainian government's official Twitter account is bound to create an effective impression on the pro-democracy western powers, especially the United Kingdom. This type of viral social media image certainly acts as a catalyst to whip up unconditional support from democratic states by directly hitting them with their home truth. This meme is a perfect example of the CNN Effect being effectively implemented by the Ukrainian cyber war division.
In another tweet from the Ukrainian government's official Twitter account, a realistic and graphic comparison is made between Ukrainian leader Zelenskyi and Russian president Putin in the domains of family, military, diplomatic position, and place of living (figure 3 UGO March 1). The photo shows Putin being lonely without family, while Zelenskyi is a social person with a happy family. Similarly, Putin is shown as sitting alone while Zelenskyi is shown attending a cordial meeting with his army general and European Union and NATO leaders. Moreover, the photo also shows Putin's diplomatic isolation and Zelenskyi's global popularity. Finally, Zelenskyi is shown living in his residence, while Putin's residence is shown as an unknown bunker, implying his cowardice. This single tweet represents the Ukrainian social media team's effective implementation of the CNN Effect by hitting the most vulnerable and sensitive fragment of western democratic ideals.
Another exciting and effective tweet uploaded from the Ukrainian government's official Twitter account shows the cartoon character from The Simpsons delivering a lecture to world powers. The inscription on the board read, "Stop saying "Ukraine crisis." There is no crisis. There is a bad neighbor." (f...