Artwork by Katya Lesiv
🄸🄽 🅃🄷🄴 🄻🄾🄾🄿
Ukraine special edition
Tactical Tech is an international NGO that engages with citizens and civil-society organizations to explore and mitigate the impacts of technology on society. Their vision is a world where digital technologies can contribute to a more equitable, democratic, and sustainable society. To enable this change, they investigate how digital technologies impact society and individual autonomy, using their findings to create practical solutions for citizens and civil society actors.
For their newsletter, they created an elaborate repository of resources on the impact of technology on crises, which can be found below.
It is possible to sign up for their newsletter here: https://lists.tacticaltech.org/postorius/lists/intheloop.lists.tacticaltech.org/
WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON CRISES? ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ
In crisis scenarios, there is an amplification of issues related to mis and disinformation, censorship, digital influence, and the control of information flows. However, far from being the problem, technology is critical to promoting transparency and freedom of expression and making balanced and accurate information accessible to citizens, communities, NGOs, journalists and others.
This is a curated list of resources on digital technologies in the Ukrainian context. We will continue monitoring the resources and include a permanent section on crises in the ‘In The Loop’ Newsletter.
In this edition:
– MIS/DISINFORMATION AND FACT-CHECKING
– CONTROL OF INFORMATION FLOWS AND CYBERATTACKS
– INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS AND DIFFUSION OF NARRATIVES
– TECH COMPANIES IN TIMES OF WAR
– CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
– JOURNALISM
– DATA AND INFORMATION VISUALISATIONS
– TACTICAL TECH RESOURCES
◤ MIS/DISINFORMATION AND FACT-CHECKING ◥
▹ The People Who Believe Russia’s Disinformation. https://slate.com/technology/2022/04/russia-disinformation-china-africa-latin-america.html
▹ Ukraine War Resource Hub. https://www.disinfo.eu/ukraine-hub/
▹ Russia-Ukraine Disinformation Tracking Center: 190+ Websites Spreading War Disinformation And The Top Myths They Publish. https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/russian-disinformation-tracking-center/
▹ Combating disinformation about the war in Ukraine. https://newslit.org/combating-disinformation-about-the-war-in-ukraine/
▹ How to Avoid Sharing Misinformation on the War in Ukraine: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ukraine-fake-news-russia.html
◤ CONTROL OF INFORMATION FLOWS AND CYBERATTACKS ◥
▹ Special Report: Ukraine – An overview of Russia’s cyberattack activity in Ukraine https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4Vwwd
▹ Ukraine: Timeline of Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and civilian objects. https://cyberpeaceinstitute.org/ukraine-timeline-of-cyberattacks/
▹ Websites Blocked in Russia Since Ukraine Invasion. https://www.top10vpn.com/research/websites-blocked-in-russia/
▹ The Russian Media Crackdown. It’s getting harder for Russians to cut through the noise of state propaganda and censorship. https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next/2022/03/where-can-russians-get-trustworthy-news
▹ Russian Cyberattacks Aimed To Destroy Critical Infrastructure — And Steal Data. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russia-ukraine-war cyberattacks_n_626a2eb4e4b01131b11eb0a9
▹ Preparing for Armageddon: How Ukraine battles Russian hackers. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/preparing-for-armageddon-how-ukraine-battles-russian-hackers/
◤ INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS AND DIFFUSION OF NARRATIVES ◥
▹ Biolabs, QAnon, and Putin: visualizing digital authoritarianism’s next move. https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/marc-owen-jones-authoritiarian-tech-disinformation/
▹ How Russia makes laws to support networked authoritarianism. https://advox.globalvoices.org/2022/04/15/how-russia-makes-laws-to-support-networked-authoritarianism/
▹ Ukraine and the Words That Lead to Mass Murder First comes the dehumanization. Then comes the killing. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/06/ukraine-mass-murder-hate-speech-soviet/629629/
▹ Marc Owen Jones analysed 250000 tweets involving 92000 accounts tweeting the trending keyword ‘Tochka-U’. Owen Jones wanted to explore a key aspect of the contested narrative around the Kramatorsk station attack- and see the successful diffusion of the Russian narrative. https://nitter.grimneko.de/marcowenjones/status/1513166861579735042
◤ TECH COMPANIES IN TIMES OF WAR ◥
▹ Ukraine War Prompts Europe’s New Emergency Rules for the Internet – The Digital Services Act has granted the European Commission unprecedented power over tech companies in times of war. https://www.wired.com/story/europe-digital-services-act/
▹ Facebook struggles as Russia steps up presence in unstable west Africa. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/17/facebook-struggles-as-russia-steps-up-presence-in-unstable-west-africa
▹ TikTok created an alternate universe just for Russia. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/13/tiktok-russia-censorship-propaganda-tracking-exposed/
▹ Russia, Ukraine, and Social Media and Messaging Apps – Questions and Answers on Platform Accountability and Human Rights Responsibilities. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/16/russia-ukraine-and-social-media-and-messaging-apps
◤ CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION ◥
▹ A Citizen-like chatbot allows Ukrainians to report to the government when they spot Russian troops — here’s how it works. https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-military-e-enemy-telegram-app-2022-4
▹ Ukrainians are scrubbing open-source maps to keep intel from Russia’s army – OpenStreetMap is widely used by the world’s biggest tech companies. It’s also revealing potentially sensitive wartime intelligence. https://restofworld.org/2022/ukrainians-osint-maps-russia/
▹ Ukrainians use VKontakte marketplaces to inform Russians about the war. https://advox.globalvoices.org/2022/04/15/ukrainians-use-vkontakte-marketplaces-to-inform-russians-about-the-war/
▹ Russia Is Leaking Data Like a Sieve. Ukraine claims to have doxed Russian troops and spies, while hacktivists are regularly leaking private information from Russian organizations. https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ukraine-data/
▹ How to be safer while using Telegram in Russia and Ukraine. https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/05/this-telegrams-a-rush/#harm-reduction
▹ Tools for Communicating Offline and in Difficult Circumstances https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10356-tools-for-communicating-offline-and-in-difficult-circumstances
▹ “Squad303 gives you a tool that allows you to send text messages from your phones directly to randomly selected Russians. Let them know the truth. Let them know the power of the free world!” https://1920.in/
▹ How everyday Russians are breaking through Putin’s ‘digital iron curtain’ Russians are using messaging apps, VPNs and other tools to evade censorship. None are perfect, but more are coming. https://www.protocol.com/russian-internet-crackdown
◤ JOURNALISM ◥
▹ Essential Steps for Journalists in Emergency Situations. https://gijn.org/2022/01/31/essential-steps-in-emergency-situations
▹ Practical and financial support to freelance journalists and their families worldwide, assisting in times of crisis and helping them to work more safely and professionally. https://rorypecktrust.org/about-us/
▹ Practical safety guidance for freelance, and local journalists and newsrooms. https://www.acosalliance.org/resources
▹ Journalism Resources for Tracking Events in Ukraine. https://gijn.org/2022/03/01/journalism-resources-for-tracking-events-in-ukraine/
▹ Support and resources for journalists covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine. https://ijnet.org/en/story/support-and-resources-journalists-covering-russian-invasion-ukraine
▹ 10 Tips for Tracking Russian-Owned Assets. https://gijn.org/2022/03/17/10-tips-for-tracking-russian-owned-assets/
◤ DATA AND INFORMATION VISUALISATIONS ◥
▹ Dependency on Russian Gas and Oil visualised. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/ukraine-russian-war-infographics-data-visuals/#RussianGas
▹ Visualizing Air Raid Sirens in Ukraine. https://observablehq.com/@mourner/sirens
▹ Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/02/27/follow-the-russia-ukraine-monitor-map/
▹ Russian Tanker Tracker. https://twitter.com/RUTankerTracker
▹ How maps show — and hide — key information about the Ukraine war. https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/03/how-maps-show-and-hide-key-information-about-the-ukraine-war/
◤ TACTICAL TECH RESOURCES ◥
▹ Data Detox Kit
Ukrainian – https://datadetoxkit.org/uk/home
Russian – https://datadetoxkit.org/ru/home
▹ Glass Room community misinformation edition materials
Ukrainian – СКЛЯНА КІМНАТА Дезінформація https://theglassroom.org/uk/dezinformacija/
Russian – Выпуск о дезинформации https://datadetoxkit.org/ru/home
▹ Exposing the Invisible – The Kit
https://kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/en/
▹ Holistic Security
https://holistic-security.tacticaltech.org/
▹ Data and Politics study
The Advent of Targeted Political Communication Outside the Scope of Disinformation in Ukraine
https://ourdataourselves.tacticaltech.org/posts/overview-ukraine/
▹ The Organiser’s Activity Book is a self-learning resource from Tactical Tech’s Data and Activism project.
https://ourdataourselves.tacticaltech.org/posts/the-organisers-activity-book/
▹ Security In A Box (currently run by our long term partners Frontline Defenders)
https://securityinabox.org
Russian – https://securityinabox.org/ru/
▹ Data and Activism
https://ourdataourselves.tacticaltech.org/projects/data-and-activism/
▹ Activism on Social Media: A Curated Guide
https://ourdataourselves.tacticaltech.org/posts/23_guide_social_media/
***SUPPORT THEIR WORK!***
If you share the vision of Tactical Tech and would like to support the work they do, they provide the option to donate directly through their website: https://tacticaltech.org/#/donate