The First TikTok War

The First Tik Tok War
The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia marks not just a seismic change in the global geopolitical order, but a historiographical shift in how citizens take in the documentation of war. If Vietnam is remembered as the "television war" for its being the first war documented on network television, and the Arab Spring is remembered as the first time a mass anti-government uprising was organized via social media, then the war in Ukraine may very well be remembered as the first "Tik Tok war." Today, ordinary citizens in Ukraine are documenting and sharing real-time war footage from their own unique perspectives, and millions of Tik Tok users are experiencing the conflict through them, bringing with them a new democratized approach to war coverage. In a recent piece for Hyperallergic, Jasmine Liu explores the complexities of documenting war via Tik Tok and considers its potential for revealing the intimate human truth of war, as well its potential to be co-opted by nefarious actors for propaganda.

From As Russia Invades Ukraine, TikTokers Are Documenting the War by Jasmine Liu:

"TikTok, which gained popularity for offering windows into domains of everyday life like cooking, DIY, fitness, and fashion, is providing a bottom-up view of what happens when everyday life is upended by violence and war for a whole nation of people in real time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even made a special appeal to TikTokers in a televised address to the Russian people on Wednesday, citing the shared humanity of Russians and Ukrainians despite the divisions that are being stoked.

Some of the videos [on Tik Tok] feature journalists reporting live using the front-facing camera on their phones. More novel, however, are the many videos shot by people with no professional affiliation to news agencies or training in documentary journalism. A TikTok by @martavasyuta shows missiles showering over Kyiv’s skyline at 4:23 am in the morning, accompanied by MGMT’s synth-pop song “Little Dark Age.” “It looks like a firework, until you realize it’s hell on earth,” a commenter wrote, liked by over 10,000 users.

These videos give viewers thousands of miles away from the physical site of the conflict a whole new feel of the lived reality of war. But they also serve as potentially highly valuable sources of intelligence. The size and location of Russia’s troops and their equipment can now be assessed from videos posted online. The ease and speed of sharing content on TikTok also means that Russia, notorious for its deployment of armies of bots and false flag operations, can launch sophisticated campaigns to spread harmful disinformation. For years, Russia has relied on sowing disinformation to create false pretexts for its incursions into Ukraine. During the Munich Security Conference this past weekend, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said, “It is deeply concerning that pro-Russia disinformation is reported to have more than doubled in the region in recent weeks.” In addition, viewers should be discerning before sharing videos of sensational developments — a few viral videos have already been flagged for originally being footage from video games, old recordings of attacks on Palestine, and clips of earlier military exercises."