The analysis of the content of the tweets found similar pro-Russian views expressed among right-wing figures and their supporters in the U.S. It found in “the Canadian Twitter ecosystem” discussing the war, around 25 per cent of the accounts were spreading pro-Russian talking points.īoucher warned that some accounts were “Trojan horses,” with some Canadians unaware the pro-Putin narratives trace their origins back to Russia, China or right-wing influencers in the U.S. The team then established connections between accounts and mapped out online conversations about the war.Īlgorithms identified clusters and main influencers in Canada and abroad who were promoting pro-Russian narratives. A location filter was applied narrowing it down to tweets associated with Canadian Twitter profiles. It profiled accounts tweeting and retweeting remarks including key terms associated with the war in Ukraine. The team of experts at the University of Calgary analyzed 6.2 million tweets from around the world and applied algorithms to trace their origins. The tweets commonly express pro-Russian talking points, including that Ukraine is a fascist state or that NATO wants to expand, posing a threat to Russia. The study by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy found that huge numbers of tweets and retweets about the war in Ukraine can be traced back to Russia and China, with even more tweets expressing pro-Russian sentiment traced to the United States.Īssistant professor Jean-Christophe Boucher said in an interview that the Russian “state apparatus” is associated with many accounts tweeting in Canada, and is influencing posts that are retweeted, liked or repeated by different accounts again and again. An analysis of over six million tweets and retweets - and where they originate from - has found that Canada is being targeted by Russia to influence public opinion here.
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