TheScottishKoala server members were obsessed with highly realistic military combat simulation video games and their depictions of military vehicles, aircraft, and weaponry. On February 24, 2021, this interest inspired the creation of a channel dedicated to discussing minute-by-minute updates on Russian troop movement and Ukrainian defenses in the region.
Within hours of the first bombs being dropped on cities in Ukraine, users shared links to flight tracking apps, live video feeds and social media posts from Ukraine, often commenting on types of aircraft and other equipment. military seen in these broadcasts and posts It was on this channel that the meme and myth of the Ghost of Kiev was born.
“[A] A friend told me that a mig29, ghost of Kiev, punished a flanker and a kamov before going silent,” Discord user MrFisherman#1238 wrote on February 24 at 11:26 a.m. ET, becoming the first to coin the phrase. Later in the chat, as well as in an interview we conducted via private message, the user clarified that he had in fact been the first to use the nickname that would eventually go viral on Twitter and TikTok and be adopted by the ukrainian. military as a kind of mascot. After the first mention of the pilot, members of the channel questioned and added to the legend by suggesting that he had been killed in action or shot down additional Russian aircraft, all without providing any source or evidence for this alleged knowledge.
Users of both the Thug Shaker Central Discord and the server where Ghost of Kyiv was made were interested in the overlap between gaming and actual warfare. The groups also shared a culture of competitiveness and superiority. The New York Timesas well as other points of sale, have reported that Texeira and other Discord users used the leaked documents as evidence to win various online debates or disagreements about US military intelligence, US involvement in Ukraine, and other highly sensitive topics.
Clearly, norms that develop in niche online communities have direct and powerful impacts in the real world. The cultures of influence sharing and competition and the lure of illicit information that motivated the spread of these leaked documents and the Ghost of Kiev myth exist in social media and messaging spaces. And they are incentivized and enabled by the platforms and chat groups that encourage the sharing of information without concern for the facts and elevate people to powerful positions of influence based solely on their ability to outrage and excite. In these communities, where children interested in video games mingle with adults with top-secret security clearances, the lines between truth and reality and heroes and traitors are increasingly blurred.
The question of what to do about the cultural norms that these groups perpetuate and the impact they can have in the real world is not an easy one for tech companies or lawmakers to answer. Teenage behavior cannot be prohibited. It could ban individual apps, as the US government is increasingly considering doing with TikTok, but no one can put social media back in the genie bottle. A new group or site will appear to replace the old one. And much would be lost if these apps were banned. For example, the Telegram chat app, along with Discord, has become a key organizing site for Russian dissidents and other pro-social movements.
What we, as individuals, can to do is to be aware of the dynamics at play in these communities. We can counsel our teens about the risks of being superior in niche communities. We may warn you about the potential impacts of sharing unverified information. We can educate them on how these systems work and try to inoculate them against the desire to interact with sensitive or manufactured material. After all, as another saying goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
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