Propaganda wars: Turning the tables on Russia
Key takeaways
- A mysterious set of social accounts focused on West Africa has been doing just that.
- The accounts, mainly in French and appearing on X, Facebook and TikTok, attack junta leaders as violent and incompetent, denounce Russia, and make favorable references to the European Union, France and the U.S.
- The accounts, which do not identify their owners, use AI to create false versions of local news reports.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
A mysterious set of social accounts focused on West Africa has been doing just that. Since the middle of last year, the accounts have been seeking to undermine ruling juntas in Africa s Sahel region — regimes that came to power through coups, pivoted sharply against France and the U.S., and then forged strong relationships with Moscow.
The accounts, mainly in French and appearing on X, Facebook and TikTok, attack junta leaders as violent and incompetent, denounce Russia, and make favorable references to the European Union, France and the U.S. Their tactics are a mirror image of how Russian propagandists operate.
The accounts, which do not identify their owners, use AI to create false versions of local news reports. Just as Russia makes fake versions of Western news sites, the accounts put fake headlines on counterfeit versions of Russian sites. The accounts link to and recommend each other — a tactic Russia also uses to make its accounts look popular and raise their rankings in search engines.