Putin, Who Started the War, Has 650,000 Mysterious 'Fan Club' Members on Facebook

A post uploaded on a Facebook page named "Official Putin Fan Club" / Photo by Facebook capture

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Amid criticism of the Russian military for alleged war crimes such as mass killings of civilians and sexual violence following its invasion of Ukraine, reports have emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'fandom' continues to grow.

On the 10th (local time), the British public broadcaster BBC reported, in collaboration with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), that they identified numerous groups claiming to be fan clubs of President Putin by investigating global social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook. According to BBC and ISD, the total membership of 10 such groups exceeds 650,000.

Netizens participating in these groups used various languages including Russian, Arabic, and Persian. They posted and shared photos and writings related to Putin on their homepages and also liked posts. The cumulative number of posts exceeded 16,500, with likes and comments totaling around 3.6 million.

BBC described these groups as "promoting Putin as a hero who supports resistance against Western powers while simultaneously expressing support for him." They noted that "these groups post photos capturing Putin in friendly moments, such as holding a puppy or looking at the camera."

According to ISD's research, a significant number of netizens actively participating in the 'Putin fan clubs' were found to be operating 'multiple accounts.' In other words, a single user manages several accounts simultaneously.

Fan club pages reportedly post and share photos capturing a friendly side of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. / Photo by Facebook capture

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For example, a female netizen residing in Syria was operating three separate accounts, posting the same content at the same time every day.

Given this situation, some have raised suspicions that certain 'Putin superfans' might have intentions to manipulate public opinion.

In the past, attempts to manipulate public opinion using fake netizen accounts have been detected in Russia. In 2020, Facebook announced that it had suspended a small network of accounts that attempted to manipulate public opinion using fake accounts in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Japan.

This account network held about 200 accounts on Facebook and Instagram and was suspected of systematically spreading fake news. At that time, Facebook also claimed that these accounts were linked to Russia's comment manipulation unit known as the 'Internet Research Agency (IRA).'

Regarding this, BBC pointed out that although it is difficult to ascertain the motives behind why account operators are engaging in such activities amid the recent increase in netizens claiming to be fans of President Putin, "the possibility that this network is related to the Russian government and pro-Putin organizations within Russia cannot be ruled out."

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