How were classified US documents shared online, and why are they now disappearing?
By Olga Robinson, Shayan Sardarizadeh & Jake HortonDozens of classified US documents which were leaked and circulated online have started to disappear, or at least become much more difficult to find. But where did they come from?
These channels aren't about politics or military intelligence, they're for players of the computer game Minecraft and another for fans of a Filipino YouTube celebrity. These documents remained on Discord largely undetected, before spreading to other platforms in early April and eventually being picked up by US officials and the mainstream press.On 5 April, screenshots of the documents appeared on the message board 4chan, one of the biggest and most controversial hubs of internet subculture.
By 7 April, the documents were also circulating on some of the major social media platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit.Initially, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels who shared the screenshots did not dwell much on the authenticity of the documents, focusing largely on their content. On state TV, Yuri Podolyaka, a prominent war commentator, said this was "planted information" intended to mislead Russia about the counter-offensive.
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