Why “pan-African” influencers drive rumors

In May, Mafalda Marchioro woke up from news of a friend who lives overseas and asked if she was safe in Abidjan, the largest city on the Ivory Coast.

Social media is full of posts claiming a coup is underway. The dramatic footage of soldiers on the platform flooded the streets, while AI-generated and host-led coverage was watched on YouTube by millions of views.

“I’m really worried, I’m really worried, I thought something happened,” the management consultant told the BBC.

But the claim shared around May 19 is wrong.

This is the latest example of untrue rumors spreading the spread of coups in West Africa, with tensions increasing in areas where military takeovers have been repeatedly taken over in recent years.

The Ivory Coast is one of the few claims that are closely connected with the West, and will hold a presidential election later this year.

Experts believe this could be an increasingly target of this misinformation, which attacks the election process.

This is because Alassane Ouattarra, who is preparing to seek a fourth term, is seen as pro-Western – and his critics accused him of being consistent with countries that are exploiting the African continent.

Ivory Coast Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly told the BBC that they have traced the origins of false information to “neighbors” without further designation.

These rumors seem to have been compared to the rifts in Burkina Faso and have been fueled by an increasing wave of influencers who call themselves pan-Africans.

They reject relations with the West, often express support for Russia, and have dialogues throughout the continent – reaching countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

Influential people also promoted figures such as Burkina Faso’s military leader Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a coup in 2022.

Traoré portrayed himself as a pan-Africanist and was truly supported by young people throughout the continent who saw him as a leader standing in the West.

Alex Vines, director of the Africa Programs at Chatham House think tank, said influencers are trying to promote existing political leadership by spreading or amplifying rumors of coups to undermine public confidence in the current institutions.

He told the BBC they were looking for an avid reader market that wanted to see more confident African leaders who brought development, peace and prosperity”.

While analysts believe the rumor on the Ivory Coast has similar characteristics to Russian-sponsored campaigners, there is no evidence of Russian participation.

The country has been linked to actions by French-speaking West African countries. according to US Department of Defense Center for African Strategic Studies A network of false information related to the Russian Wagner Group attempts to spark rumors of the 2023 Niger coup.

There is also no evidence that Burkinaby authorities were involved in the rumor of the Ivory Coast coup, but people there did amplify the claims.

A year ago, relations between Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast were severely deteriorated when Traoré accused his neighbor of tolerating armed groups in its territory and hiding “stables” and dissidents who openly insulted his military friends.

Then in April this year, his security minister The accused drawingist is located on the Ivory Coast To overturn Traoré’s plan – the allegation is widely amplified online.

The BBC Global Disinformation Unit analyzed the mentioned false Ivorian coup report on Tiktok, Facebook, X and YouTube – the earliest popular post we found was written on May 19 by Harouna Sawadogo, a pro-government activist at Burkina Faso, whose 200,000 Tiktok followers’ content is almost exclusively targeted at Trailore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore the traore.

He had posted a selfie video in French and Mooré, saying that soldiers on the Ivory Coast should rise up and launch a coup and encourage people to share his post.

An hour later, he published a video containing images of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and superimposed a title on the Rapid gunshots that are declaring a coup – although the clip is actually from the recent Indian-Pakistan tensions.

The next day, social media users outside French-speaking West Africa violently misunderstood and pushed it to English-speaking audiences in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, encouraging other social media users to follow suit.

A few weeks later, the BBC posted his live video through the Facebook page, asking him where he got the information, he did not provide any details, but he replied that he “sent to God Alasane (Ouattara) and he was lowered by the coup d’Etat.”

Another rumored person is English, the Turkish-born South African Mehmet Vefa Dag who runs the Truth and Solidarity Movement – a small political organization in South Africa.

He posted several times on different platforms to celebrate what he called an “internal coup.”

In fact, Mr. Dag has been criticized in the past, and his offensive and false comments on Jews and LGBTQ+ people have called for a coup on XX on May 11.

When the BBC contacted the BBC on June 3, when it was obvious that there was no coup, he insisted that it happened.

“We are proud of doing this coup to expel Ouatara. He sold his soul to the imperialists and wanted to destroy Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger,” he said.

“As pan-Africans, we will never give them another chance. We will fight for our country. This is our continent.”

The millions of YouTube videos about the alleged turmoil of the Ivory Coast were shared by the channel that was often regarded as pan-Africanism, or discussions about the head of the government in Burkina Faso.

According to Effiiong Udo, associate professor at Uyo University in Nigeria and associate professor at the Pan-Africa Dialogue College, some “opportunistic influencers” romanticize the military government under the guise of Pan-Africa, a movement to promote solidarity and liberation on the mainland – get off-road and make money from their content.

But he told the BBC that this type of content attracted young people who were disillusioned with politics, adding: “I can understand their overzeal.”

Kenyan scholar Karuti Kanyinga agrees that social media content presents a desire for responsible leaders who can change Africa, not misunderstand resources and try to lift people out of poverty.

“But people who are trying to provide misinformation and disinformation about Trare in Burkina Faso, or coups about the Ivory Coast are not agents of pan-Africanism,” said the BBC.

There is no doubt that Traoré has a lot of admirers, and for content creators, he is the story of the moment – anything related to him and his political worldview is performing well online.

Kenya Youtuber Godfrey Otieno produced content on trend news, saying he posted a video a few months ago reporting that Captain Traoré was shot and killed by his best friend.

He told the BBC: “It’s really exciting.

He is the one who repeated unverified information about the Ivory Coast in May, and his video received more than 200,000 views. He later apologized and said he was wrong.

He admits he does make money from certain content, but adds that he hasn’t monetized all posts and unlike those some people think of as “pan-African influencers”, his motivations are not purely financial.

“Some people in the space are using misinformation and false information to develop their influence and develop for engagement,” he said.

There is real interest in this content, and the comments under the fake coup video are usually positive and may reflect the appetite for changing throughout the continent.

But the government calling for the evacuation of the Ivory Coast does bring real anxiety to those living on the crosshairs – all of which will lead to increased tensions as West African countries voted in October.

Other reports from BBC’s Nicolas Négoce