Ukraine Strikes Russian Data Centers, Causing Drop in Online Extremist Activity
Translated & summarized from Calcalist by baba
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian data centers have led to a significant drop in online activity from accounts supporting extremist European parties and promoting anti-Israel narratives. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the attacks, which disabled Yandex data centers, reduced hate speech and provocations on social media. Experts noted a sharp decline in discussions related to far-right parties and specific political topics across platforms like X and Reddit, with some users reporting less extremist content.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Ukraine's drone attacks on Russian data centers have caused a dramatic decrease in extremist social media activity.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky stated the attacks reduced hate speech and provocations on social media platforms.
- Activity surrounding Germany's far-right AfD party dropped by over 56% following the strikes.
- Discussions on Reddit related to Irish politics fell by approximately 80% after a data center was hit.
- Researchers observed a decline in posts mentioning "Free Palestine" and "genocide" on X.
- The attacks reportedly reduced the number of bots spreading extremist content online.
Social media activity from accounts supporting extremist European parties and promoting anti-Israel narratives has dramatically decreased following Ukrainian drone attacks on several Russian data centers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted on X, formerly Twitter, that "it suddenly became a bit easier to breathe on many social media platforms," observing "less hate, less division, and fewer provocations."
In the past week, Ukrainian drone attacks have disabled three major data centers operated by the Russian tech giant Yandex in various regions of Russia. The most recent incident, on Sunday, affected a data center in the Vladimir region, leading to widespread internet access disruptions for Russian residents.
Concurrently, experts have observed a significant reduction in online content related to inflammatory extremist topics. For instance, activity surrounding Germany's far-right AfD party plummeted by 30% within a day and an additional 56% the following day. On Reddit, discussions on subreddits focusing on Irish or Spanish politics, and general discussions about Sweden, Germany, or the Czech Republic, dropped by tens of percent. The subreddit 'irishpolitics' saw an approximately 80% decrease after a data center was bombed on Friday.
Researchers also identified a decline in posts on X mentioning "Free Palestine" and "genocide," alongside an increase in posts mentioning Zelensky. Users in the UK have reported less online activity related to the far-right Reform UK party, according to EuroNews. In the US, X users have noted a visible decrease in pro-conservative comments.
"This is happening because there are fewer bots," Zelensky stated. "And it is clear where these bots come from, they disappeared when Yandex was disconnected from the network. This proves, again and again, that Europe is not the source of the problems. Europe is not what creates difficulties. Most importantly, we need people in America to see what is happening, for them to see the truth."
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