In essence, NAFO can swim in online waters that governments would struggle to enter.įive Western national security officials, almost all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, welcomed the rise of such pro-Ukrainian internet warriors. Even answering a Twitter account whose avatar is a “doge” can make a Russian diplomat look foolish. Russian influencers have struggled to respond to the badly-drawn Shiba Inu memes, YouTube-style viral videos and the power of ordinary social media users debunking Kremlin talking points. It’s very simple to do, and they have a mascot.” NAFO 1, Russia 0 “This is an actual tactical event against a nation state,” he said. Where Russia’s propaganda remains tightly-controlled via Kremlin-backed media, this group won people over because anyone can join, its focus is on humor and it gives people a positive way to show their support for Ukraine. “NAFO expansion is non-negotiatiable!”įor Jamie Cohen, an internet culture expert at City University of New York, NAFO has tapped into the social media culture becoming part of people’s everyday lives. Your donations to support our defenders, your fight VS misinformation is valuable,” Reznikov wrote. “I’d like to thank each person behind Shiba Inu cartoon. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s defense minister Reznikov tweeted a “personal salute to #NAFOfellas” and changed his profile pic to a bespoke doge avatar dressed in a suit, carrying a Ukrainian shield and standing in front of a bombed-out bridge. Western extremists use the “Pepe the Frog” meme to punctuate their online messaging.įor NAFO, it’s the humble Shiba Inu avatar - a goofy-looking dog breed popularized by Tesla’s chief executive and would-be online troll Elon Musk and his support of Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency.Īs the community has grown, its members started to copy online tactics straight out of the Kremlin’s disinformation playbook, sprinkling in a heavy dose of internet culture and humor to undermine Russian propaganda. Jihadists produce slick YouTube clips depicting fighting in the Middle East. With the rise of social media, would-be political groups have sought to harness cultural iconography once reserved for internet chatrooms in pursuit of recruits, attention and impact. To delve into NAFO is to get a crash course in how online communities from the Islamic State to the far-right boogaloo movement to this rag-tag band of online warriors have weaponized internet culture. Weaponizing meme culture Even answering a Twitter account whose avatar is a “doge” can make a Russian diplomat look foolish | Matt Cardy/Getty Images Her preferred choice: “Warrior goddess,” she said. Salisbury is now deciding what type of Shiba Inu avatar she wants before donating. “This organization just emerged from what has been a very in-depth, but very niche, part of the internet.” “This is something we’ve just never ever seen before,” said Emma Salisbury, a doctoral candidate at Birkbeck, University of London, who studies Western military tactics. Anyone who donates money via PayPal (NAFO never touches the actual cash) to groups like the Georgian Legion, a military unit created soon after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, can ask the group for their own doge avatar. ![]() NAFO started in late May as an online fundraising tool for Ukrainian troops. The coordinated shit-posting is ultimately deployed in the service of Kyiv’s war effort. On an average day, there are now more than 5,000 Twitter posts linked to NAFO versus a mere handful in May, according to an analysis shared with POLITICO by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that tracks online activity. They’ve also flooded Twitter with viral memes attacking Russian President Vladimir Putin and videos mocking the Kremlin’s war effort. Whenever a NAFO fellas spots a Russian official or sympathizer posting a pro-Kremlin take on Twitter, for instance, they can use the hashtag #Article5 - a nod to the part of the NATO treaty that calls for collective defense - to bombard these accounts with support for Ukraine. They pile onto Russian propaganda via coordinated social media attacks that rely on humor - it’s hard to take a badly-drawn dog meme seriously - to poke fun at the Kremlin and undermine its online messaging. They overlay the image on TikTok-style videos of Ukrainian troops set to dance music soundtracks. NAFO “fellas,” as they prefer to be called, emblazon their Twitter accounts with the Shiba Inu avatar.
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