In the past, SVT has mapped female Chinese influencers who on Tiktok mix easy language lessons and culture with more clearly political content aimed at users in the West.
The same approximate scheme is seen in a large number of Russian videos on Tiktok, which in many cases have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of views.
“A disinformation war”
Young women show followers around in Russian shopping malls and in well-stocked grocery stores. Sometimes it’s about showing what a “normal” Russian store looks like, or teaching Russian words for food products found on the shelves.
Sometimes the ambition is more clearly expressed: To demonstrate that Western sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine war “have had no effect”, accompanied by hashtags such as #russiansanctions.
– It is an information and disinformation war, therefore the psychological factor is very important, says SVT’s former Russia correspondent Bert Sundström after he has been allowed to watch the video clips.
What can be said about the Russian women seen on Tiktok – and is there any truth behind what they say?
In the video above you can see some of the videos, and hear Bert Sundström’s explanation.