Ukraine strikes Yandex data centres; experts question misinformation drop claims
Ukraine struck Yandex data centers; Zelenskyy claims this cut misinformation, but experts say the impact is unclear.
Ukraine has struck three of five main data centers used by Russian tech company Yandex. President Zelenskyy said the strikes reduced Russian misinformation on social media by removing bots.
A graph from US tech firm Cloudflare showed bot traffic dropped sharply after one strike. Experts who study online information say it's more complex.
Most Yandex bots do routine indexing and search optimization, not spreading misinformation. A viral graph claimed the strikes reduced far-right activity on social media.
But it was later found to be made by AI. Researchers say proving a link between bot drops and reduced misinformation needs more data and study.
- 3 of 5 main Yandex centres
- Data centres struck
- Yandex
- Company
- Olivia Shen, United States Studies Centre
- Expert
Why it mattersIt shows how fast viral stories spread about digital effects. It also shows how vulnerable internet infrastructure is to military targeting.
AustraliaNo direct Australian effect yet, but the strikes show data centres are becoming military targets, which could eventually affect Australian internet services.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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