Social media as a weapon in Russian information warfare: resilience framework built on lessons from Ukraine

Although social media plays a vital role in facilitating communication among people during times of conflict and disasters, it may also be exploited as a platform for carrying out information warfare operations. During times of crises, when there is a scarcity of information and people are seeking safety, social media is extensively utilized in modern crises and wars. Considering the potential for social media to be used as a tool for information warfare, it is important to acknowledge the negative consequences it can have on individuals, communities, and even national defence. There is a lack of theorization of how states address this danger to enhance societal resilience against information warfare on social media. Considering Russia’s use of information warfare in weaponizing social media against Ukraine during its second invasion as of February 24, 2022, this paper explores Ukrainian countermeasures and their context in the international law to propose a theoretical framework for boosted resilience based on lessons from Ukraine at the onset of Russian aggression in February-April 2022. A descriptive case study was carried out to gain a deeper understanding of the Ukrainian response to Russian warfare on social media during the initial stages of the 2022 attack. The case study employs content analysis in order to describe the context of social media within the framework of international law, specifically in relation to national security. The study focuses on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights. The subsequent measure to be examined is the legislation enacted in Ukraine between March-April 2022, in response to the threat posed by information warfare on social media, coinciding with the onset of the full-scale war (3 documents). The manner in which Ukraine conveyed the potential danger through social media and the accompanying regulations have been analysed in a content analysis of documents (5) of the Information Agency of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, and the Security Service of Ukraine. In addition, the paper examines how Ukraine empowered its citizens to take countermeasures on social media. It analyses the upgrades made to the state app DIIA during the mentioned period, as well as the use of specific social media accounts that allowed smartphone users to contribute to the state defence. This provided citizens with an opportunity to actively participate in countering information warfare. Based on the case of Ukraine, the paper presents a theoretical model for enhancing the ability to withstand information warfare on social media, consisting of three dimensions: (1) legislative, (2) communicative, and (3) empowering. Legislative refers to the ability to quickly adopt and implement important legislative changes or create and pass relevant laws. Communicative involves using a multi-level governance system to effectively communicate any legislative additions or changes to the citizens. Empowering means providing citizens with opportunities to support the defence forces through the use of smartphones and social media platforms.