Attempts are now being made to influence Finns more than ever before.
The war in Ukraine and the NATO debate have set in motion Russian bots and trolls in particular. Especially on social media, many may have come across questionable videos, pictures, publications or fake news aimed at influencing the opinions of Finns at an exceptional time.
Leading specialist of the Digital and Population Information Agency Kimmo Rousku In the past, Russia has listed various ways in which Russia seeks to influence Finland, from various cyber attacks to propaganda spread by bots and trolls. These methods are commonly referred to as hybrid effects.
Rousku advises to be careful, especially when receiving social media and e-mails, as the activity is currently very active. With the help of bots, Russia is trying to get its messages reinforced and to give the impression that the issue would be discussed by many different people. In fact, bots just mimic what their host does.
– Individual bots don’t really get anything done yet, but large botnets are like an invisible army. To understand bots, one can think of a situation where ten thousand robots have been taught to follow the actions of one particular robot or human. If the main robot or human raises their hand, these thousands of robots will do the same, Rousku says.
Rousku also brings up trolls, which he describes as real people whose purpose is to cultivate a rift.
– Trolls ignite campfires and try to keep the flame up, trying to make it roar. Once this is achieved, the troll drifts to the back left and the slam conversation continues its life with the help of those who react to it. If the conversation begins to fade, the troll returns to the scene to pour gasoline into flames, for example in the form of a provocative image or video.
Here’s how
So what do bots and trolls share? Usually, the intention is to get false information and false news to spread, and people will start sharing them themselves. Rousku listed ways to make sure no snatch was caught.
It is worth treating the news against Some with caution if it is a source unknown to you.
– I always look at the headline I meet first. If it’s a click title or a cryptic title, I’m immediately alert. It’s worth comparing this to getting an offer in your email that’s too good to be true, Rousku says.
If you end up in an article, Rousku advises you to go through the writing style and quality of the text. Pay attention to whether there are typos in the text and how consistently the article progresses. Also evaluate how professionally the article was produced.
– This does not say everything either, as the quality of machine translation has really improved a lot in recent years. This could be a threat in the future as we receive higher quality scam messages and fake content that is even more difficult to identify.
Rousku also recommends checking the publication time of the original part or article, as old content is really shared a lot.
– When you want to troll, it’s exactly how old the news is. The reader should therefore find out what the original source of the shared story is. I’ve come across cases where stuff that’s years old is being unearthed and invoked.
– You should also find out the author of the publication or article. If a post was made by someone who isn’t on my own network or I don’t otherwise recognize it, I often look for information about them. It is not worth trusting that a person would be trustworthy if he or she has large numbers of followers. Follower bots can be bought online, Rousku says.
With regard to purely Finnish content, Rousku advises to be especially careful with the videos, as the movement has content in many directions.
– For example, in connection with the war in Ukraine, a lot of videos have been distributed that are not related to the events in any way. I have come across cases where videos of war video games have been distributed. Their image quality is already so good that many ordinary users may not be able to distinguish them from real videos.
As a final tip, Rousku said to avoid sharing unless you are absolutely sure the information is correct. At worst, such false information can easily spread really fast. Rousku also recommends avoiding opening links you don’t know about. Rousku says he uses the Virustotal.com service himself, where you can enter the web address to check if it is safe
Do not fight against windmills
Rousku estimates that the majority of Finnish users of Finnish services will come across content that may have an information effect on the Russian side in the near future. In such situations, Rousku advises keeping your head cold.
– If it’s something you don’t think it’s worth touching on, that’s probably the case. No matter how much the thread would evoke emotion and think that it was just rubbish, I wouldn’t leave my own opinions (even those who can justify it) to publish. It’s kind of a fire maintenance that I mentioned earlier in connection with trolls.
– Rather, it is worth trying to slow down the conversations by allowing bots and trolls to keep the conversation going. When the right people fade away, bots don’t have much time in the conversation for long.
According to Rousku, it is not worth bundling different somes content on Whatsapp or other instant messaging services. When the various memes are appropriately distributed and people react to them, these reactions can be redistributed back to the original source, again pouring gasoline into the flames.
It’s also worth remembering that algorithms control what is displayed in your own soma services. This is the case, for example, with Netflix and Spotify subscription services: the services tailor the content to be displayed to you based on what you consume.
– Not everything comes unfiltered, the content is really carefully filtered. This is worth remembering, Rousku suggests.
When it comes to social media services, it’s good to turn your attention to young users as well. In Tiktok, for example, a lot of different videos and other war-related content were distributed, especially at the beginning of the Ukrainian war. According to Rousku, young people are also a target group that they try to influence through information.
– For young people, it would be essential for every family to discuss social and online phenomena, such as disinformation and online scams. In this way, media literacy would be more strongly highlighted. Transparency and open discussion is the way awareness should be disseminated.
Who shares the propaganda?
Rousku divides the spreaders of false news and false information into three categories.
– The first is the army of trolls and bots, which are maintained by Russian organizations. The operation of these is systematic – disinformation is produced by the state.
– Secondly, I would raise employees, who may also include Finnish citizens. These individuals are consistently taking the message forward.
Last are the people who distribute this content without further thought. They may not realize that they are disseminating false information.
Rousku estimates that in Finland, too, offers have been made to individuals to spread propaganda or participate in troll factories.
According to Rousku, Finns know how to identify cases of influencing information quite well, despite attempts. At the state level, it has also been possible to combine things into a larger whole in terms of influencing information.
– We have lacked a broad understanding of the field of hybrid influence, but I claim that in a couple of months more progress has been made than in years – masks have also partly fallen in the digital world, Rousku says.