Russia spreads propaganda in popular video games – NYT
Russia has been using video games, including Minecraft and World of Tanks, as well as forum chats, to spread propaganda.
Source: The New York Times
In particular, Russian players recreated the battle for Soledar, which has been occupied since January 2023, in Minecraft, a popular game owned by Microsoft, by publishing a video of the gameplay on VKontakte, the most popular Russian social media.
Apart from that, the VKontakte channel of the Russian version of the World of Tanks game commemorated the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany by showing a recreation of the Soviet Union tank parade in Moscow in 1945.
At the same time, a virtual celebration of Russia Day was recreated on the popular game creation platform Roblox.
These games and related discussion platforms like Discord and Steam are becoming online playgrounds for Russian propaganda. The NYT found out that propaganda is being spread there, which is a way for the Kremlin to try and justify the war in Ukraine. The target audience is young people.
Quote: "The gaming world is really a platform that can impact public opinion, to reach an audience, especially young populations," said Tanya Bekker, a researcher at ActiveFence, a cybersecurity company that identified several examples of Russian propaganda on Minecraft for The New York Times.
Brad Smith, the Microsoft President, announced in April 2023 that the company's security services had discovered recent attempts by Russia to "basically to penetrate some of these gaming communities." He cited examples in Minecraft and Discord discussion groups.
"In truth, it’s not the No. 1 thing we should worry about. You know, it just happens to be a good place for them to get the information into circulation," Smith said at an economic conference in Washington.
The head of Microsoft's threat analysis team, Clint Watts, also said that Russian military forces, the Wagner group fighters, were promoting "malign narratives" on Discord and Steam. Thus, they expressed support for the Kremlin's views.
"The propaganda mainly seeks to make Wagner and the Russian military look cool and menacing," Watts told the researchers, who were examining extremism in video games.
Microsoft declined to react to executives' comments or to answer any questions about examples of Russian propaganda. The company only said that they review content that violates the online community standards for video game discussions.
Although some materials reflect the views of "ordinary Russians", other examples testify to the possible involvement of the Russian government. The Kremlin's activity in video games shows how persistently the Putin government has tried to achieve its political goals using Western social media, despite the diplomatic and economic isolation of the Russian Federation, the outlet emphasises.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Microsoft announced that it was suspending the sale of new products and services in the Russian Federation. However, the Russians continue to find ways to use popular video games and sites like Discord and Steam for propaganda.
Background: The Russian Federation uses three main messages to justify the deportation of Ukrainian children: "The Russian Federation is a paradise", "Ukraine does not care about its children", and "the West exploits children".
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