From the first moments of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, local TikTok users have played a pivotal role in documenting the war, offering the world a glimpse of what is happening on the front lines. TikTok has had so much influence on the war in Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on TikTokers to help end the war. A few weeks ago, the White House briefed top influencers about the war in Ukraine, in an effort to align their messages about the war with U.S. interests.

TikTok restricted its services in Russia in early March, citing Russia’s "anti-fake news" law, but many users are circumventing the restrictions all the same. And plenty of the platform’s one billion monthly users worldwide continue to comment and report on the war, while others are using the tool to spread related disinformation through commentary, dance challenges, and lip-syncing trends.

Here are some of the widespread trends that social media researchers have uncovered on TikTok:

1. In early March, U.S.-based media watchdog Media Matters published a report by researcher Abbie Richards identifying 180 TikTok users who had posted nearly-identical videos showing a person kneeling while holding an English-language sign that condemns “Russophobia” and invokes “info wars.” Captions typically include the hashtags #RussianLivesMatter or #RLM.