A war beyond the war: the use of propaganda in social media in the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict

Abstract

This study examines the use of popular social media platforms by individuals and institutions acting on behalf of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, in relation to the 2022 war and conflict between the two countries. In this paper, critical discourse analysis is applied to identify, outline and analyse major narrative frames employed by official users, individuals and institutions in social media. Accounts in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok have been operated to enhance each side’s narrative and disseminate their views in the framework of war propaganda, for instance combining calls for assistance/action, content that appeals to emotion and political or ideological reasoning. The study explores the approaches utilised by the two sides in conflict by observing data that includes content —text, audio and video— posted during the first 30 days of the war.