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'It's Our Home Turf.' The Man On Ukraine's Digital Frontline
Link to tweet
… Mykhailo Fedorov and Ukraine’s young entrepreneurial class are inventing a whole new way to fight a war online. Their relentless social media campaigns have flooded the Internet with constant updates on military and diplomatic successes, and helped them recruit an “IT Army” as well as foreign fighters. Having previously used Telegram during the 2019 Ukrainian presidential campaign, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team has been able to rely on existing infrastructure when the messaging app turned into the main front in the information war. Fedorov’s ministry also set up a cryptocurrency fund that has raised more than $63 million worth of donations for the Ukrainian military.
“I think the future is with tech, and this is why we will win,” he said.
Wearing a gray turtleneck and white AirPods, he spoke to TIME on a video call from an undisclosed location somewhere near Kyiv. “Russia’s leadership still lives in the 20th century,” Fedorov said. “They have failed to notice that… governments must move towards becoming more and more like tech companies, rather than being rigid like a tank, like a war machine.”
…As the horrors of the war play out for the watching world online, Ukrainian officials say they intend to take and hold the “moral high ground” in the global battle for hearts and minds. Fedorov says he and his colleagues are vigilant for any disinformation from their own side that could break the trust and goodwill they have built up, putting teams and processes in place to verify the facts in all updates posted by Ukrainian officials. That emphasis on credibility, Fedorov says, is a “force multiplier.” “In a way, we are trying to protect our brand,” he says, wryly noting that he knows it sounds “peacetime-y” in this context. “Our brand as one of an honest nation and an honest people trying to tell the truth.”
Ukraine has long been on the receiving end of Russian disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, so they were familiar with their tactics and were able to build some resilience, Fedorov says in his interview with TIME, which was conducted through a translator. Soon after the invasion, he called for the creation of what he called an “IT Army,” which has grown to over 300,000 volunteers—many from its vast network of tech company representatives and cybersecurity specialists—whom Ukrainian leaders coordinate to fight Russian intrusions through secure messaging groups…
More at https://time.com/6157308/its-our-home-turf-the-man-on-ukraines-digital-frontline/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=world_&linkId=157311080
“I think the future is with tech, and this is why we will win,” he said.
Wearing a gray turtleneck and white AirPods, he spoke to TIME on a video call from an undisclosed location somewhere near Kyiv. “Russia’s leadership still lives in the 20th century,” Fedorov said. “They have failed to notice that… governments must move towards becoming more and more like tech companies, rather than being rigid like a tank, like a war machine.”
…As the horrors of the war play out for the watching world online, Ukrainian officials say they intend to take and hold the “moral high ground” in the global battle for hearts and minds. Fedorov says he and his colleagues are vigilant for any disinformation from their own side that could break the trust and goodwill they have built up, putting teams and processes in place to verify the facts in all updates posted by Ukrainian officials. That emphasis on credibility, Fedorov says, is a “force multiplier.” “In a way, we are trying to protect our brand,” he says, wryly noting that he knows it sounds “peacetime-y” in this context. “Our brand as one of an honest nation and an honest people trying to tell the truth.”
Ukraine has long been on the receiving end of Russian disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, so they were familiar with their tactics and were able to build some resilience, Fedorov says in his interview with TIME, which was conducted through a translator. Soon after the invasion, he called for the creation of what he called an “IT Army,” which has grown to over 300,000 volunteers—many from its vast network of tech company representatives and cybersecurity specialists—whom Ukrainian leaders coordinate to fight Russian intrusions through secure messaging groups…
More at https://time.com/6157308/its-our-home-turf-the-man-on-ukraines-digital-frontline/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=world_&linkId=157311080
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