The role of Tech in the Ukrainian conflict

03/05/22 • 26 min

This week is going to be focused on the role and impact of tech in the Ukrainian conflict. We’ll cover five different aspects:

Information: the Russian government has a history of manipulating the media to push its propaganda through Social Media. Youtube, Meta, and Twitter banned Russian-backed media accounts, and Meta hired tens of experts who speak Ukrainian and Russian to label fake news, supported by AI. It’s working: the Russian government is retaliating by limiting access to the services.
Support: more than $20M has been raised through Facebook donations, and there are Facebook groups in Poland and Romania with hundreds of thousands of people coordinating their support activities. Airbnb is committed to giving free housing to 100.000 refugees, and Elon Musk is providing Starlink devices to bring internet connection. An outlier is Patreon, which banned the fundraise of a non-profit due to terms of service violations.
Crypto: Crypto is neutral, which means that can be used by both sides for whatever application. Russia could use it to circumvent sanctions, but crypto is not mature enough to support an entire country’s economy. However, what’s going to happen in the next major conflict? Ukraine is the biggest cryptocurrency adopter in Europe already, and they’re turning to crypto for fundraising.
Cyberwar: digitalization means that also critical infrastructure runs on code. Potentially, a country could bring a country on its knees by hacking its electric grid. There is not much information about governmental “hacker armies”, but the independent hacker collective Anonymous declared war on the Russian government and managed to hack its websites, TV, and databases. Now they’re going after Russian oligarchs’ data.
Open-source Intelligence.Two examples: Jeffrey Lewis, an open-source intelligence expert, found out about the Russian invasion while it was happening looking at Google Maps traffic data. Another case is Jack Sweeney, who became famous weeks ago for creating a Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s private jet. Now he's doing the same with Russian Oligarchs, exposing their trips to Seychelles and other exotic places while their country is invading their neighbors.

Some personal thoughts on the role of tech in this conflict:

I often talk about the power of technology, and how it can shape our society. This is not an exception. As the Ukrainian minister for digital transformation put it, “In 2022 modern technologies are one of the best responses to tanks, rockets, and missiles”.

We got accustomed to stories of technology violating people’s privacy and being used for malicious purposes. It’s refreshing to see the power of all these companies being used for good this time, supporting people in need and fighting evil with code, not bullets.

I ask myself why they’re committing all these resources. Most tech companies are under some form of scrutiny from governments all around the world, so a cynic view would be that they are trying to improve their position.

Maybe that’s true to some extent, but I want to believe that there’s more. I want to believe that they’re fighting for what they believe in. Companies are made of people. Tech is built by people. All these humans believe in something, and if they collectively believe in the values of freedom and democracy, then I’m glad to see them use their power to fight for their values.

Tech is not neutral, and the position they’re taking in this conflict gives me hope.
Get in touch:

This week is going to be focused on the role and impact of tech in the Ukrainian conflict. We’ll cover five different aspects:

Information: the Russian government has a history of manipulating the media to push its propaganda through Social Media. Youtube, Meta, and Twitter banned Russian-backed media accounts, and Meta hired tens of experts who speak Ukrainian and Russian to label fake news, supported by AI. It’s working: the Russian government is retaliating by limiting access to the services.
Support: more than $20M has been raised through Facebook donations, and there are Facebook groups in Poland and Romania with hundreds of thousands of people coordinating their support activities. Airbnb is committed to giving free housing to 100.000 refugees, and Elon Musk is providing Starlink devices to bring internet connection. An outlier is Patreon, which banned the fundraise of a non-profit due to terms of service violations.
Crypto: Crypto is neutral, which means that can be used by both sides for whatever application. Russia could use it to circumvent sanctions, but crypto is not mature enough to support an entire country’s economy. However, what’s going to happen in the next major conflict? Ukraine is the biggest cryptocurrency adopter in Europe already, and they’re turning to crypto for fundraising.
Cyberwar: digitalization means that also critical infrastructure runs on code. Potentially, a country could bring a country on its knees by hacking its electric grid. There is not much information about governmental “hacker armies”, but the independent hacker collective Anonymous declared war on the Russian government and managed to hack its websites, TV, and databases. Now they’re going after Russian oligarchs’ data.
Open-source Intelligence.Two examples: Jeffrey Lewis, an open-source intelligence expert, found out about the Russian invasion while it was happening looking at Google Maps traffic data. Another case is Jack Sweeney, who became famous weeks ago for creating a Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s private jet. Now he's doing the same with Russian Oligarchs, exposing their trips to Seychelles and other exotic places while their country is invading their neighbors.

Some personal thoughts on the role of tech in this conflict:

Tech is not neutral, and the position they’re taking in this conflict gives me hope.
Get in touch:

Previous Episode

Trump’s Twitter copy, AI controls plasma, music devices and bankrupt health tech

I don't know you, but it's tough for me to talk about tech with all the crazy stuff happening in Ukraine. I really had to pull myself together to publish this episode, I hope you'll appreciate it.
In this episode:

Donald Trump launched “Truth”, his alternative to Twitter. In its first week it attracted thousands of users, but not without a few technical glitches.
Deepmind announced a new AI algorithm capable of controlling plasma: a gas heated up to hundreds of millions of degrees, key to achieving nuclear fusion
Spotify announced “Car Thing”: a tool to plug into a car’s dashboard to control the music app. Also Kanye West introduced new music hardware with the Stem Player, a device that will be the only way to listen to his new album Doda2
Secondsight was a company developing tech to allow blind people to see. Now it’s bankrupt, leaving their customers in deep trouble to get spare parts and assistance for their device.

Where else to find me:

Next Episode

Can Crypto be a weapon for the US government? (also new Apple chips, Amazon fails)

Let's get smarter about tech with all the most important news of the week, in less than 20 minutes!

Coinbase wants crypto to become a tool in the hands of governments. Let’s discuss how.
Apple introduced the Mac Studio: a new computer with a super powerful chip called M1 Ultra. Their chips keep destroying competition.
Amazon is shutting down 68 popup stores selling books. Brick and mortar seem to be hard also for the tech giant.

Where else to find me: