Hybrid CoE Working Paper 26: Humour in online information warfare: Case study on Russia’s war on Ukraine

This Hybrid CoE Working Paper considers instances of humour put to effective use to counter disinformation and propaganda in online spaces, using Russia’s war on Ukraine as a primary case study, and Twitter (now X) as the main medium under consideration. Humour-based responses to Russian actions in the information space and in the physical domain have been found to deliver multiple clear benefits for the defending side. While humour cannot replicate the effects of formal monitoring, debunking and user education, neither can these achieve the effects delivered by humour. As such, humour constitutes an important additional tool for bolstering the resilience of the information environment.