From classic to TikTok propaganda. Russian aggression in Ukraine and new media perspective

Abstract

The ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine has become a highly relevant example of war in the age of social media, demonstrating how the tools and mechanisms of propaganda have transformed alongside recent developments in media. Using qualitative methods, we analyzed 600 videos and 63 screenshots from TikTok, and identified changes in ​​the practice of creating propaganda. We considered the most important of them: social media architecture (1), propaganda techniques (2) and content producers (3). The conclusions from the analysis confront the assumptions of the most important theories on propaganda, including war propaganda (Lasswell, Chakhotin, Herman, Chomsky). According to our findings, changes in the media require a revision of theoretical assumptions, which in the future will allow the creation of a new theory of propaganda.