Washington

United States President Joe Biden is banking on top TikTok influencers to help battle the Russian propaganda on the Ukraine war, the Washington Post reported.

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According to the US-based newspaper, White House on Thursday held a Zoom call with 30 digital creators who have been covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine on their social media channels, including TikTok, YouTube and Twitter.

National Security Council special communications adviser Matt Miller and White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefed the influencers about the US’ strategic goals in the Eastern Europe, how US would respond to nuclear threats by Russia and answered questions on distributing to Ukraine.

TikTok users in Russia and Ukraine have been at the forefront of disseminating information since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine began February 24.

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They have been continuously posting videos showing the aftermath of bombings and the effect of economic sanctions.

The US has been hoping to cash in on this information war and hence decided to rope in social media influencers to reach a broader —and younger —audience.

Watch: Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Ukrainian city abducted by Russian troops

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"The creators were given an overview of the latest in Ukraine, as well as where the US sees the conflict moving toward," a White House official told CNN, adding that officials also took questions from attendees.

"The material was similar to that given in traditional briefing calls to reporters over the last week," the official said.

Also read | Moscow opens case against Meta for calling for 'murder' of Russians

The official pointed to the “millions of views” that these creators have produced to explain the latest situation in Ukraine over the past few weeks.

According to audio obtained by the Washington Post, Psaki also said on the call that Russia hacked the 2016 election, when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. 

'If you look back at 2014, and frankly even 2016, when Russia invaded Ukraine and then in 2016, when they, you know, of course, hacked our election here, we did not do that, we did not declassify information, she said. 

(With inputs from agencies)