Flood of Russian misinformation puts tech companies in the hot seat
Millions of people are flocking to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Twitter for round-the-clock updates the Russian invasion of Ukraine – renewing scrutiny of the outsized role that tech companies play in disseminating news of war.
Social media has long been instrumental in distributing frontline footage, but Ukraine presents a new scale of global conflict for private platforms to navigate.
Tech companies are facing a constant stream of mis- and disinformation, propaganda from Russian-backed outlets, violent content, and on-the-ground footage of fleeing refugees, causing world leaders and tech watchdogs to call for greater accountability and transparency in how companies wield their powerful platforms.
Ukrainian officials last week pleaded with US tech giants to take action against Russia, urging them to restrict access to their services within Russia, more forcefully curtail the spread of misinformation, and crack down on Russian state-backed outlets.
“In 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks, multiple rocket launchers and missiles,” Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in a letter to Tim Cook asking the Apple CEO to cut off Russia’s access to the App Store.
Over the weekend, the prime ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia sent a joint letter to the chief executives of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, urging them to proactively suspend accounts denying, glorifying or justifying wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Although the online platforms have undertaken significant efforts to address the Russian government’s unprecedented assault on truth, they have not done enough,” they said in the letter.
They also urged the companies
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