As the war in Ukraine is about to enter its 15th month, hardly a day goes by without videos taken on the front lines being shared on social media. Forces in both Moscow and Kiev continue to use their “war porn” footage showing the destruction of the other side’s tanks, mobile rocket launchers and other vehicles.

Often these videos are geotagged which reveal the exact location where the incident took place. It could also provide the enemy with insight into where certain units may operate.

This shouldn’t be surprising given how apps like Foursquare City Guide have encouraged a generation to “check in” whenever they go out, while it’s common for social media users to regularly post their movements to the world. War fighters now share videos as a form of propaganda.

“Videos as propaganda are nothing new. As long as the most basic video technology has existed, videos have been used as propaganda in wartime,” explained Dr. Timothy Sellnow, Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Research and Creative Activities in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the UUniversity of Central Florida.

What is new in Ukraine, however, is the amount and access to such videos.

“Anyone with a phone can record and upload a video. Such videos can potentially be shared around the world within days or even hours,” Sellnow continued. “Therefore, there is no doubt that the sharing of such videos as propaganda for both sides of the conflict will continue. As covert operations are conducted under greater surveillance and with limited access, videos recorded in covert environments have a greater potential for surveillance. We hope that such videos videos shared with the intention of eliciting support will not jeopardize the safety of the soldiers they portray as heroes.”

Too much information?

As the first “Social Media War”, some military units seem to be broadcasting their exploits almost daily, but are they revealing too much? In past wars, military personnel and civilians alike have been warned that “loose lips sink ships,” so could we be seeing social media warnings?

“It’s hard to say whether releasing the videos would put the soldiers who made them at risk,” said technology analyst Charles King of Pund-It.

“If the videos were broadcast live, the location of the drone pilot could be pinpointed. We saw something similar earlier in the invasion, when the Ukrainians used cellphone data to target Russian soldiers and senior officers,” King added. “If the pilots take videos and upload them later, the danger would be minimized.”

However, shared videos, in any context, can reveal information that military leaders would prefer to keep confidential, Sellnow suggested.

“The audience for such videos is almost always larger and more complex than most senders anticipate,” Sellnow continued. “The geotagged ‘Glorification’ videos pose a known risk. Even when the tags are removed, hints of location and individual identities can leak through other visual aspects of the content.”

On the other hand, such videos can be strategically shared to mislead by strategically providing “disinformation” to mislead enemy forces, Sellnow further noted.

Psychological warfare via social media

Additionally, such content shared online becomes part of a psychological operation (PSYOP) exercise, depicting the death and destruction wrought in the recent attack. The invasion of Ukraine was expected to last three days, and Russian soldiers reportedly arrived in uniforms instead of winter clothes, so the continued release of such videos by Ukrainian forces could be used to further damage the enemy’s morale.

These short clips could serve as a warning to other enemy fighters.

“‘Look how close we were and you didn’t even notice,'” King suggested. Conversely, the Kremlin could use such videos to reinforce the message to Ukrainian fighters that “you can’t win.”

Another factor is that the videos are very similar to the old “recorded in dispatches” that called for specific actions by a soldier or unit. In this case, individual teams make sure their exploits are recognized.

“If drones are used to carry out actual attacks, they provide a ‘Gotcha!’ bragging rights,” King suggested.

Censoring content?

As these videos highlight the successes of each side, it is unlikely that Russia or Ukraine would completely curb their use. However, it is possible that we could see some efforts to censor some details – perhaps limiting the use of tags that identify a particular unit, for example.

“Censoring video ‘enhancement’ is feasible, but, again, subtle location clues based on topography or even what censors choose to blur or remove can be clues to sophisticated analysts as to where the video was shot,” Sellnow said. “So even videos that are carefully censored can have unintended revelations.”