“As western social media sites tried to block misleading ads coming out of Russia this week, Rob Blackie was trying to sneak ads in.

Mr. Blackie, a British digital strategist, wanted Russians to see impartial news about the invasion in Ukraine. His solution to avoid Russia’s censors: digital ads, which began buying with automated technology and slipping past government filters onto online platforms in Russia.

Bearing neutral headlines such as, “What is known about the situation in Ukraine at the moment,” the ads were viewed two million times as of midday Friday and directed viewers 42,000 times to independent news sources such as , Mr. Blackie said.

“The great thing about digital advertising is that it’s quite hard to stop it,” he said.”

Read from March 2022 published by the New York Times.