The video depicting Zelensky ordering troops to surrender was removed by Meta. The video is the latest alarming milestone in the parallel information war and it was a moment that the government and social media companies of Ukraine appeared to have been prepared for.
Meta Head of Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher explained that the company removed the content for breaking its rules against manipulated media, a form of multimedia misinformation that often manifest as video edited to depict a public figure saying something that they never actually say.
According to the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, the misleading video was caught by Meta fairly quickly, but is now circulating widely on Facebook. The pro-Russia Telegram channel published a fake Wednesday depicting Zelensky calling for the country to surrender.
The news ticker of the national TV network Ukraine 24 was hacked on Wednesday. Zelensky's message was displayed on the ticker and called on the people of Ukraine to end their resistance against the Russians.
Russian hybrid warfare in action. Ukraine 24 TV channel was hacked: the news ticker started displaying President Zelenskyy's fake "capitulation" address. @ZelenskyyUa has already refuted the fake, stating the only people he can offer to lay down arms is the Russian troops. pic.twitter.com/MaZjk2hGzA
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) March 16, 2022
Zelensky's communications since the beginning of the invasion have been characterized by the same selfie video style that the president of Ukraine used to counteract the disinformation.
In early March, the Centre for Strategic Communications of Ukraine warned that Russia could use altered videos to distort public perception of its invasion. The center is part of the Ukrainian government's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.
You see it, you hear it, so it's a surrender statement. This is not the truth.
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