The “dead internet” theory has been gaining popularity in certain circles since around 2016. It is based on the idea that the real internet has ceased to exist, with real users gradually being replaced by bots and algorithms created by corporations or governments. According to this theory, online content has become an illusion — most news, social media posts, and commentary are allegedly generated by artificial intelligence to manipulate public opinion, control the population, or spread disinformation. Accordingly, human users are trapped in closed information zones where they interact with fake bot profiles.

In reality, the Internet is too decentralized for any one government or corporation to fully control it. Millions of users from all over the world create content every day, which is verified by analytics and statistics from social networks and websites. In addition, initiatives such as volunteer movements, mass protests, or information campaigns on social networks are verified by live reports and testimonies of participants. They are the result of real public activity, not the work of bots or algorithms. Social media platforms such as Facebook actively work to detect bots and fake accounts.

Russian disinformation amplifies this theory in order to discredit Western and Ukrainian sources of information. In this way, propagandists promote the idea that international support for Ukraine is the result of bot manipulation, rather than a reflection of real public sentiment. In addition, they try to convince the Ukrainian audience that online activity, including volunteer initiatives, is only part of an information special operation by special services or external actors. The dissemination of such ideas undermines trust in information sources and disorients the population, which is one of the targets of the information war against Ukraine.