On February 17, the Security Service of Ukraine (known by the Ukrainian acronym SBU) disrupted the activity of a network of “bot farms” – an extensive, organized effort to create “fake” (automated) social media accounts, which was found to be active across multiple regions of Ukraine. According to the SBU, the technical equipment used by the operators of these bot farms was supported by Russian online services. The SBU’s investigation showed that the network had registered more than 8,000 active fake accounts on different popular social media platforms.
The main purpose of those bot accounts included, among other elements, spreading false information about the situation in Ukraine, instigating street protests and subverting popular sentiments.