While Ukrainian and Russian troops face each other on the ground, another major battle has emerged online as Western countries fight back against Russian propaganda. ISD’s Ciarán O’Connor comments to AP News (AP) about the significance of TikTok, the viral video platform with more than one billion users, in this context due to its relatively loose content moderation policies.

“This is one of the first major wars in which TikTok has been at the forefront of events on the ground,” Ciarán said to AP, “both for people watching from afar but also those trying to document events, disseminate narratives and shape perceptions”.

Ciarán O’Connor is an Analyst at ISD, working in the Research and Policy unit. You can find a range of his work in our publications section.