Seeing the wood through the trees: Adventures in Disinformation

From a young age, I was instilled with a deep sense of curiosity, a trait nurtured by my parents, grandparents, and teachers alike. It was never enough to accept things at face value; I was always encouraged to dig deeper, to question, to rummage around in search of the truth. This inquisitive nature became a cornerstone of my personality, guiding me through the complexities of life and, more recently, into the murky waters of disinformation.

As I grew older, I became increasingly suspicious of those who seemed intent on bending facts to fit a particular narrative. It wasn’t just the conclusions they reached that bothered me, but the way they appeared to crowbar disparate ideas together, creating a distorted version of reality. This instinctive scepticism served me well, particularly as social media began to emerge as a powerful, yet often perilous, tool for communication.

I first noticed the pervasiveness of disinformation on Facebook, where misleading posts would spread like wildfire. Later, Twitter became a veritable hotbed for this sort of content, with disinformation being shared, retweeted, and amplified in a matter of seconds. The sheer scale and speed at which falsehoods could circulate was alarming, and I found myself increasingly drawn to understanding the mechanisms behind it.

The tipping point for me, however, came with the onset of the war in Ukraine. As the conflict unfolded, I felt a compulsion to delve deeper into its underlying causes. What I discovered was a cacophony of propaganda, with fierce narratives competing for dominance. It was during this time that I began to grasp the extent of the disinformation surrounding the war — narratives crafted not just to mislead, but to confuse and polarise.

My understanding of Ukraine’s history, particularly the Revolution of Dignity and the Maidan protests, was initially peripheral. I knew enough to recognise that Ukraine was striving to carve out a progressive path in the post-Soviet space. However, as I explored further, it became clear that the information landscape was riddled with distortions, each side attempting to twist the truth to suit its own agenda.

This exploration coincided with my growing awareness of the so-called “Post-Truth” era. The events of recent years — Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, the rise of the anti-vax movement, and even the resurgence of flat-earth theories — were perplexing to me. How could so many people subscribe to ideas that seemed so evidently flawed? The answer, I realised, lay in the power of disinformation, a force that was increasingly shaping public discourse and, by extension, our world.

Determined to better understand and combat this phenomenon, I began to delve deeper into the realm of disinformation. This journey led me to NAFO (North Atlantic Fellas Organization), a group dedicated to countering Russian propaganda online. The work they were doing was inspiring, and I felt a growing urge to contribute, to play a part in this important battle.

I started by writing community notes, initially as a way to process and articulate my thoughts. But as I continued, I became more and more familiar with the disinformation narratives circulating online. The same tired tropes kept reappearing, often so blatantly absurd that I was insulted by the sheer idiocy of it all. Yet, these narratives persisted, and it became clear to me that more needed to be done to expose and dismantle them.

Now, I’ve decided to take my efforts a step further by talking openly about these narratives and documenting them. This is what I intend to do here, sharing my insights and experiences in the hope of shedding light on the dark corners of disinformation. It’s a daunting task, but one that feels more necessary than ever in a world where truth is increasingly under siege.