Google restaurant reviews have given a digital edge to the fight against Russian disinformation.
On February 28, the Twitter account @Konrad03249040 created a post urging people to find random shops/cafes/restaurants in Russia on Google Maps and write in the reviews what is really happening in Ukraine. The post was then promoted by the hacking group Anonymous. The idea was also later shared several times on r/Ukraine on Reddit, which received hundreds of upvotes in less than 48 hours.
The idea is an attempt to bypass state-run Russian media and directly reach the civilian population of Russia who may be unaware of or unable to access independent or reliable news. Russian media, widely seen as controlled and censored by their government, is being used to spread misinformation to justify the invasion and discredit those in solidarity with Ukraine. However, since the initial tweet was posted, users across social media have continued to post reviews and images on Google Reviews for restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, businesses, and government buildings.
See also: Russia-Ukraine crisis: Britain warns of cyberattacks with international consequences
An example of a review posted on Twitter states:
“The food was delicious! Unfortunately, Putin spoiled our appetite by invading Ukraine. Resist your dictator’s orders, stop killing innocent people! Your government is lying. Rise up!”
On Tuesday morning, the top Google reviews for a Moscow restaurant called Romantic were as follows:
Louise states:
“5800 Russian soldiers died today and 4500 yesterday. Stop the attack, don't let your children suffer, if there is war there is no going back.”
Subsequently, Karolina posted the following:
“The food is great, but your leader is killing innocent people in Ukraine!!! Stop this war.”
Both people gave the restaurant five stars, as users are encouraged not to hurt businesses with their reviews. A post by u/Clipptube on Reddit says they should give 5 stars to local businesses and 1 star to government buildings and facilities. He also points out that most Russians don't want this war, but they can't speak out publicly against Putin.
Some users suggest a different tactic. They suggest that those writing reviews should not become offensive or graphic since the main idea is to empathize and help them understand the situation by providing easy and digestible material.
Despite the users' struggle, the movement is facing some problems as some Google reviews have already disappeared. The reviews mentioned above for the Romantic restaurant are no longer visible and when sorted by most recent, the last post was three months ago.
Other users on Reddit are experiencing the same issue, saying their reviews have been deleted or not accepted. Comments on a post about their posts being deleted from the Google Maps app offer workarounds, such as changing the messages including images and reviewing lesser-known locations.
See also: Sabotage on Russian trains by Belarusian hackers
It's unclear who is removing these reviews, although Mashable has reached out to Google for answers. It could be because the posts are likely to violate Google's terms of service. But even before the reviews stopped appearing, some users recommended using Yandex Maps, the Russian equivalent of Google Maps. These users explained that it is more widely used in Russia than Google.
Will posts about local cafes persuade Russians to denounce Putin and the invasion of Ukraine? That may be proven later. But it seems that internet users have never had a greater incentive to write a review.
Source: sea.mashable.com
