The focus on China’s influence on TikTok underscores a broader reality, the propaganda and disinformation machine of the Russian state, which uses the platform to spread its fake news and narratives in English and Spanish to young audiences, U.S.-based think tank the Brookings Institution indicated in a May 2 report.
Since early 2024, accounts linked to the Russian regime have increased on TikTok. Although these accounts tend to be more active on other platforms, the report indicates that engagement per publication is higher. Brookings fellow Valerie Wirtschafter conducted the researched based on data collected from 70 affiliated accounts.
Wirtschafter told The Washington Post that as she tracked the accounts she felt “like I was seeing the process evolve, and the recognition that this is an emerging space that they should devote resources to.”
Young Latin Americans
Vladimir Rouvinski, director of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the ICESI University in Colombia, told Diálogo on 14 May that the Brookings report reveals that most of the videos linked to the Russian propaganda machine on TikTok adopt strategies similar to those used by Russian-affiliated media in Latin America, such as RT.
Brookings’ analysis does not imply a Russian shift in strategy, but rather an attempt to capitalize on young people’s enthusiasm for the platform, said Rouvinski, who noted that TikTok is growing significantly in Brazil and Mexico, a trend the Kremlin is looking to capitalize on, especially in the face of Facebook and YouTube’s stricter security policies.
Dark side
The U.S. Senate passed a bill on April 23 that requires ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the platform or face a possible ban on the app in the country. TikTok, with millions of users worldwide, is under scrutiny for data security and its ties to the Chinese Communist Party, U.S. news site Voice of America (VOA) reported.
James Rubin, coordinator of the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center, an agency dedicated to detecting and countering political propaganda and disinformation, told Argentine news site Infobae that “Russia and China covertly conduct disinformation operations in the Latin American region.”
He highlighted that social networks and the internet used to be seen as positive tools for democracy, but that their “dark side” has now come to the surface, especially when “Moscow and Beijing take advantage of these technologies to influence public opinion in Latin America, manipulating the perception about conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, where Russia is carrying out an illegal invasion and indiscriminate violence.”
It is essential to distinguish between the right to information, freedom of expression, and the misuse of this freedom of information, Rouvinski added. TikTok is a platform where users consume information. “Given the recognition of its popularity and misuse by Russian and Chinese media, the United States has every right to protect the integrity of the information space,” he said.
Persuasive content
Russian-backed narratives are finding wider audiences on TikTok than on other platforms, as evidenced by high engagement rates on each post, Brookings indicated. In addition, artificial intelligence can increase the production of persuasive content. This suggests that Moscow will allocate more resources to reach these audiences, especially young people, Brookings added.
It also indicates that TikTok should be recognized as a space where different perspectives compete, not just those approved by China, Brookings said. Ignoring the scope of Moscow-approved content allows these narratives to circulate unchallenged, which is risky.
Therefore, the public debate in the United States about this platform is crucial, Rouvinski said, as this can raise the level of awareness and understanding about TikTok worldwide. “Without this debate and public attention, TikTok could continue to operate as it has been. Accessing truthful information is a fundamental human right,” he concluded.