It’s a scene fit for a cyber-thriller: a global giant of technology compelled by the most powerful nation’s intelligence agency to control narratives. Yet, this isn’t a scene from a science fiction novel but an unfolding reality. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been pressuring Facebook to clamp down on alleged Russian “disinformation,” based on recommendations from Ukrainian intelligence. Intriguingly, the term “disinformation” is broadly construed by Ukrainian authorities, potentially encompassing views that simply oppose the Ukrainian government’s perspective. But interestingly, it’s sometimes the opposite.
A deeply troubling chain of events has been revealed to have taken place between American and Ukrainian intelligence services, social media platforms, and free speech rights, echoing the impact on the fraught geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe and the influence of Russian forces on the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
