Fake TikTok accounts have been spreading misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine war , according to new data from the Chinese social media company.
The posts from the fake accounts targeted Ukrainian and Russian users, as well as many other people across Europe. According to TikTok, the content was designed to “artificially reinforce pro-Russian narratives” about the war.
Some accounts were flagged as news outlets.
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In addition, a separate investigation by the BBC identified 800 fake accountstargeting European countries and spreading claims that senior Ukrainian officials and their relatives bought luxury cars or villas abroad after Russia's invasion in February 2022.
According to CNBC, TikTok had already begun investigating the accounts before the BBC investigation. All of the fake accounts identified were removed from the platform.
“We continuously and relentlessly pursue those who seek to influence our community through deceptive behavior,” the company says.
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Most of the fake TikTok accounts (around 13,000) operated from inside Russia and promoted war-related propaganda in local languages in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Greece.
However, some accounts from Ukraine that aimed to raise money for the Ukrainian army.
According to TikTok's research, the total followers of the fake accounts exceeded one million, but the viewers of the propaganda videos may have been many more.
TikTok has previously detected fake pro-Russian accounts, as pressure mounts on social media sites to crack down on fake users and misinformation.
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Disinformation on TikTok can have a serious impact on public awareness of the Russia-Ukraine war. As TikTok is a popular social media platform, its users can be influenced by the content they see and believe false information. This can lead to a distortion of reality and the creation of false perceptions about the state of the war.
Additionally, spreading misinformation through TikTok can discredit one side of a war, creating an imbalance in public perception. This can affect the support each side receives and make it more difficult to achieve peace or a diplomatic solution.
Source: www.cnbc.com
