Tech Intervention in the Russia-Ukraine War

The Russia-Ukraine war is the first of its kind where emerging technologies are not just a means to an end but major participants.

• One of the first hints that a war was imminent was satellite imagery of Russian troop movements around Ukraine’s borders. No amount of Russian propaganda could falsify that.
• As the war approaches its 50th day, we have seen how social media platforms, satellite internet services, open-source intelligence and AI have played a major role in the conflict.
• Mykhailo Fedorov, the Minister of Digital Transformation, used Twitter smartly to basically guilt most Big Tech and prominent technology companies to stop all their Russian operations.
• TikTok, along with Twitter and Telegram, emerged as a social media platform that has been weaponized by both sides to put forth their narratives and influence audiences and world opinion.
• Tech advancements have enabled open-source intelligence (OSINT) to document atrocities as well as debunk disinformation. Evidence is being archived to be presented at future war crime trials.
• But experts are also concerned about the use of controversial technologies such as facial recognition or employing hackers in cyber ops, to continue well into peace time.