Social media continues to be a battleground in its own right involving the battle against misinformation. With billions of users and several millions of them American, underestimating the power of social media for messages is a luxury the U.S. can’t afford. There have been many misinformation campaigns from the likes of Russia and other hostile governments that have come to light over the last few years, and now, it seems that another one is in the news. Donbass Devushka, a sympathizer of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been identified as Sarah Bils, a Veteran of the U.S. Navy that served as recently as November 2022.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rbnMAsjN8
Navy Vet Sarah Bils Is Behind Donbass Devushka
Users of Reddit and Twitter have discovered the true identity of Donbass Devushka, the individual behind several online accounts spreading misinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Donbas Girl helped recently spread the leak on Discord and has a history of pro-Russian propaganda.
Hailing from Oak Harbor, Washington, Bils is a 37-year-old woman who served at the US Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island as an NCO in the Navy. Typical content from Devushka’s account will include praising the Wagner group, excitement for the death of Ukrainian fighters, and graphic media from the war.
It’s worth noting that running a YouTube, Twitter, and Spotify account, while obviously also having a presence on platforms such as Discord, isn’t all Bils alone. Such coordinated acts are part of a team that consists of at least 15 others helping to spread false information.
Posts throughout her Telegram contain pro-Russian talking points and memes that disparage the U.S. military. Not exactly the content you would equate to a Veteran of the United States under normal circumstances.
The Donbass Devushka podcast is a focal point, but the persona’s Telegram would help spread dozens of leaked documents that came from the Thug Shaker Central Discord chat leak. For what it’s worth, despite Bils having secret security clearances, she claims to have not helped with the leak of classified documents.
But the images were spread nonetheless. Worst of all, the images were altered, with Bils knowingly spreading information after it was leaked and altered. The team denies altering the content themselves.
Fighting Misinformation is Nothing New, but Strategies are Evolving
Whether you like it, love it, understand it, or don’t, a lot of the world’s news originates on social media. This is what makes accounts such as the Donbass Devushka Twitter account such a large concern. It doesn’t matter whether it’s TikTok videos or a post on Facebook, users are being influenced through information that’s designed to mislead.
It’s easy to sit back and assume that such issues are contained to those who are duped, but this is not the case. During World War II, radio shows spread propaganda for Nazi Germany. Today, we have the Internet. These efforts are far from new, they’ve just changed their platforms.
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The real-life repercussions are concerning. Working with misinformation can help shape negative mindsets, cause panic, and create a world where agendas are more important than the facts at hand.
Social media continues to make headlines. For example, despite a lack of evidence, lawmakers say TikTok is a national security threat. The government, along with corporate interests, continues to carefully navigate the freedoms of speech and press, with mixed results. These efforts include preventing misinformation from causing harm to the general public.
As tempting as it may be to ignore, these issues should not be taken lightly. Threats currently abound, and social media and the Internet aren’t going anywhere. Further highlighting the issue is the personal responsibility we all have to strive for the truth and facts, regardless of personal feelings when sharing information online.
Donbass Devushka Revelation Leading to Federal Investigation
Unsurprisingly, the interview by the Wall Street Journal that lead to the revelation of Sarah Bils’s involvement with a pro-Russian personal, has paved the way to an investigation from the Federal Government.
The nation is already on its heels from the Discord leaks and grappling with concerns of national security. Now, the group has openly admitted to spreading false information for a not-so-friendly enemy state with its own deep history of doing the same. Russia’s indirect involvement in the leak is still being looked into by the Pentagon.
If Donbass Devushka was looking for attention, she/they got it. But hopefully, through such investigative efforts, actual facts will come out and expose the fictional information being used to divide rather than unite our country through times of elevated tension.
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