Faking the war: fake posts on Turkish social media during the Russia–Ukraine war

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the fake posts circulated on Turkish social media during the Russia–Ukraine war. With advancing technology, social media platforms have a profound impact on the way we perceive and interpret events and make us question the accuracy of information generated about international events such as wars. While the Russia–Ukraine war constitutes an important turning point in international relations, the reflection of these events on social media is also seen in fake posts. In this context, the main purpose of this study is to identify the common themes of fake social media posts and to reveal the general context of these posts on social media. In addition, the study aims to analyze the fake content circulating on Turkish social media and to reveal the emerging polarized discourses through the identified themes. The research revolves around five main themes that feed polarization: war reporting, ideological misrepresentation, humor, hate speech, and conspiracy theories. The findings show that fake content is particularly concentrated around ideological polarization and antagonisms. It was also found that misinformation and decontextualized humor blurred the true context of the war and that fake content combined with hate speech and conspiracy theories distorted the context of the war.