"Double standards": criticizing Western reporting of the war in Ukraine
Social media users accused the media of hypocrisy when reporting Russia's war against Ukraine compared to other conflicts.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth day, there was a surge of support for Ukraine across much of Europe, Australia, and the West.
The war began Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to attack Ukraine after months of a massive military build-up on the border. Ukraine's Health Minister said that at least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, had died during the invasion so far. According to the United Nations, more than 360,000 Ukrainians have fled the country, most of them across the border into neighboring Poland.
The war sparked swift condemnation by some countries, outright sanctions by the United States and others against Russian banks, oil refining, military exports, and marathon emergency talks at the UN Security Council. However, on social media, the speed with which such an international response - which includes Russia's ban from some cultural events and being treated as a pariah in sport - has raised eyebrows as there has been no similar response to other conflicts around the world.
Media pundits, journalists, and politicians have been accused of using double standards to manipulate their way to praising not only Ukraine's armed resistance to Russian troops but also the roots of their horror of how such a conflict could have happened.
Charlie D'Agata, the senior correspondent for CBS News in Kyiv, said on Friday: "This is not a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, where conflict has raged for decades. It is relatively civilized, relatively European - and I am." have to choose those words carefully - a city where you wouldn't expect or expect it to be.
His comments were met with ridicule and outrage on social media. Many pointed out how his remarks have helped further demean the non-white, non-European people who suffer from conflict in the mainstream media.