From Salon · Troy Farah · · 1m 40s
The internet isn't dead. It's even worse
Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian data centers reveal internet's growing bot traffic and disinformation crisis.
In brief
Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian data centers reveal internet's growing bot traffic and disinformation crisis. Ukraine's drone attacks on Russian data centers show internet bot traffic now exceeds human traffic, raising fears of a dead internet. Originally reported by Salon.
Ukraine strikes Russian data centers
Ukraine targeted three Russian data centers operated by Yandex with drone strikes over four days.
“rapid unplanned disassembly”
Yandex's internet infrastructure damaged
Yandex, a Russian tech company similar to Google, experienced significant damage to its data centers.
“Yandex”
Zelenskyy claims social media improvement
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said social platforms became less hostile after Ukraine's attacks on Russian data centers.
“It suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social platforms. There was less hate, less division and fewer provocations”
Cloudflare reports bot traffic drop
Cloudflare data showed Russia's Yandex bot traffic nearly eliminated overnight after Ukraine's attacks.
“Russia’s Yandex bot traffic nearly eliminated overnight”
Experts question bot traffic claims
Internet experts say the drop in bot traffic may include legitimate activity, not just disinformation.
“When Cloudflare data shows a precipitous drop in 'bot' traffic, that does not mean 'automated social media troll accounts'”
Dead internet theory explained
Dead internet theory suggests the internet is now mostly bots, with AI-generated content for algorithms, not humans.
“an eerie feeling that the Internet is made up of bots talking to bots, following and liking bots”
Bot traffic surpasses human traffic
Cloudflare reports bot traffic now exceeds human traffic for the first time in internet history.
“bot traffic makes up an increasingly large share of the internet, surpassing human traffic for the first time in history”
Strong dead internet theory
Strong dead internet theory claims online activity is entirely disconnected from human activity due to societal collapse.
“the 'strong' version of the dead internet conspiracy theory claims that online activity is entirely disconnected from human activity”
Cyber warfare impacts internet
Cyber warfare enables states to conduct aggressive acts without kinetic violence, creating stealthy strategic advantages.
“Cyber warfare enables states to conduct aggressive acts; espionage, sabotage, infrastructure disruption without engaging in kinetic violence”
Internet's decline in trust
The internet has become a zone of distortion from its original purpose as a liberating, self-healing information source.
“the original commitment to net neutrality is on life support, the goal of a shared public information repository is constantly compromised by paywalls”
Human connection as solution
Connecting with real humans through family, friends and neighbors can counter internet's negative effects.
“Even more important is connecting with real humans: family, friends, neighbors”
What it means
Ukraine's drone attacks on Russian data centers show internet bot traffic now exceeds human traffic, raising fears of a dead internet.
