How Activists Are Using Ads To Sneak Real News Into Russia About Ukraine

The first rule in the playbook for any authoritarian government is to discredit and silence the media. Some regimes do it by trying to convince the public that all media is fake. Others create an information firewall to censor and control what the public is able to see. Activists have pioneered a clever way around the firewall in Russia, using online advertising to "sneak" real news into Russia about what is actually happening in the Ukraine.

Combined with the news that a deep fake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling on citizens to "lay down arms" was widely and quickly debunked, it is clear that digital marketing and media will continue to be a huge part of the battle for perception related to Russia's invasion of the Ukraine.