Technology, social media changing how war is fought in Ukraine
Technology and social media have fundamentally changed the world, including how war is fought, as we are seeing play out every day in Ukraine.
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Billionaire Elon Musk was recently sought out on Twitter by Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who asked Musk for SpaceX support fighting the war.
In particular, Fedorov asked for help setting up SpaceX Starlink satellite internet capabilities to work as a backup if the internet goes out in the war zone.
Musk responded in less than 12 hours, saying Starlink was set up and more help was on the way.
Technology has also made it easier for everyone around the world to see what is happening in real-time on the ground in Ukraine.
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"One of the almost sort of underreported aspects of this has been open-source intelligence and satellite imagery," says Paul Scharre from the Center for New American Security. "And the fact that we have so much open-source intelligence that other people can see this with their own eyes. So we've got images now of these convoys of Russian vehicles lining up outside of Kyiv, coming towards it. That's really available for anyone to see, and it's really significant in a place where we are seeing private companies play a huge role in terms of providing that open-source intelligence."
Social media has also played a major role in the conflict with TikTok videos circulating showing captured Russian soldiers.
Scharre told FOX 5 that Ukraine has been particularly effective at harnessing social media to tell their side of the story, which has been helpful in boosting morale and fortifying the will to fight, critical for Ukraine who is outnumbered by Russian forces.
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An example of open-source data Scharre refers to is California researchers being able to track the initial Russian invasion across Ukraine's border via Google Maps when the app showed a traffic jam in the early morning hours on Feb. 24, hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement.