How to spot disinformation around the war in Ukraine

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, false information about the conflict began circulating online -- like the now-debunked story about the Ukrainian fighter pilot known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” who was rumored to have brought down six Russian planes.  

Distorted footage and false claims about the war quickly filled Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter, with critics saying these social media platforms have not done enough to stop disinformation campaigns.  

While companies like Meta and Google have taken steps to mitigate the spread of disinformation, for instance no longer allowing Russian state media to run ads on their platforms, misleading content can still slip through these measures. 

But experts tell Changing America there are some ways individual users can identify disinformation and factcheck their feeds.