Why did the ‘Pan-African’ influencing the rumors pushed

In May, Mafalda Market woke up to messages from friends living abroad, asking if he was safe in Abidjan, the largest city in Coast D’Ivar.

Social media were full of publications that claimed a coup. The dramatic footage of street soldiers flooded platforms while Generated, generated by AI and led by leading leading reports, gained millions of views on YouTube.

“I was really worried, really concerned, I thought something had happened,” the management consultant told the BBC.

But the claims shared around May 19 were false.

They are the worst example of the spread of false coup rumors in West Africa, increasing tensions in a region where several military absorption has been observed in recent years.

Kot D’Ivoire, one of the few French-speaking countries, still closely brought to the West, has to hold a presidential election later this year.

Experts believe that this can be a growing goal for this type of misinformation with stories that attack the election process.

This is because Ivorian President Alasan Owatara, ready to look for a fourth term, is regarded as a pro -Wew – and his critics accuse him of aligning countries that exploit the continent.

Communications Minister of Coast D’Ivoire Amadu Kulibali told the BBC that they had traced the origin of false information to the “neighboring countries”, but did not further specify.

The rumors seem to have grown from a break with Burkina Faso and are promoted by a growing wave of self-styled Pan-African influences.

They reject connections with the West, often express support for Russia and generate conversations across the continent – reaching countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

Influencers also promote figures such as the military leader of Burkina Faso Captain Ibrahim Trare, who seized power at a coup in 2022.

Traore presents himself as a general African and has a lot of real support from young people from all over the continent who view him as a leader who stands in the West.

Alex Wiens, Director of the Think Tank Chatham House program, says influenzers are trying to sift in doubt about the existing political leadership by distributing or enhancing coup rumors to destroy public confidence in current institutions.

They “find a passionate market from readers who want to see more persistent African leaders who are in development and carry peace and prosperity,” he told the BBC.

While analysts suggest that Cott’s rumors have similar features of a Russian sponsored campaign, there is no evidence of Russia’s involvement.

The country is connected to influence operations in the French -speaking West African countries in the past. According to African Center for Strategic Research from the US Department of Defense The misinformation networks associated with the Russian group of Wagner have tried to provoke rumors of a coup in Niger in 2023.

There is also no evidence that Burkinabe’s authorities have participated in the rumors of the coup of Cott D’Ivoire, but the people based there have intensified the allegations.

Relations between Burkina Faso and Kot D’Ivoire seriously destroyed more than a year ago when Trare accused his neighbor of tolerating the belligerent groups on his territory and attracted “destabilizers” and dissidents who openly offended his junta.

Then this April, his Security Minister Blame the conspirators with headquarters in Kot D’Ivoire For planning to download Traoré – an accusation that was widely intensified online.

The BBC Global Division Analyzes the mentioned Tiktok, Facebook, X and YouTube coup reports mentioned to the earliest popular publication we found was on May 19 from Haruna Saudo, a pro-Burin Faso, which creates content for its 200,000 Tikt.

He had posted selfie video in French and Mure, a local language, saying that Cott’s soldiers had to rise to make a coup and encourage people to share his post.

An hour later, he posted a video presenting an image of Ivori President Alasan Owatara, imposed on a quick -up -to -do, coup, is underway -although the video is actually from the recent tension in India -Pakistan over Kashmir.

The next day, social media users outside Francophone West Africa attacked the misinformation and pushed it to an English -language audience in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, encouraging other social media users to follow the example.

When a few weeks later, the BBC sent messages to G -N Sawadogo, through the Facebook page, posting his live videos to ask where he received his information from, he did not provide details, but replied that “praying to God Alassa (ouattara) to be removed from a coup.”

Another one who took the rumors, publishing in English, was born in Turkish South African Mehmet Wefa Dag, who heads the Movement for Truth and Solidarity, a Little Political Organization in South Africa.

He publishes several times on various platforms celebrating what he calls an “internal coup”.

In fact, Dag, who in the past was criticized for offensive and false comments against Jews and LGBTQ+ people, had already called for a coup in the Ivoire of the X on May 11.

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

“We are very proud of the one who made this coup to remove the Outara. He had sold his soul to imperialists and wanted to destroy Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger,” he said.

“As an Africa, we will never give them a chance again. We will fight for our country. This is our continent.”

The most popular videos on YouTube for the supposed turmoil in Kot D’Ivoire, watched millions of times, have been shared on channels, which are often stimulated as dedicated to the African or discussions about Burkina Faso’s Junta leader.

According to the Effing Udo, Assistant Professor at the University of Nigeria in Uyo and President of the Panfrican Institute of Dialogue, some “opportunistic influences” are romantic warranting military governments under the guise of Pan-Africanism-to promote unity and liberation of the continent-to gain popularity and make money from their content.

But he told the BBC that this type of content is attractive with young people who are despondent by politics, adding, “I can understand their excessiveness.”

Kenyan Academician Caruti Keninga agrees that the content of social media is becoming a desire for reporting leaders who can change Africa, do not assign resources, and try to raise people out of poverty.

“But people who are trying to provide misinformation and misinformation for a traiore in Burkina Faso, or for a coup in the d’Ivory, are not agents of Pan-Africanism,” the Development Research Study at the University Development Institute told the BBC.

There is no doubt for many fans and for content creators he is the story of the moment – everything related to it and his political worldview is doing very well online.

The Kenyan YouTuber Godfrey Otieno, which creates content in Trending News, said it came across this winning formula a few months ago when he was posting a video that takes into account the false claim that Captain Trare was shot by his best friend.

“This has really been moving,” he told the BBC – and since then its contents are almost everything for Burkinabé’s leader.

He was the one who repeated the unauthorized information about the Coast D’Ivoire in May and his video collected over 200,000 views. He later apologized and said he was wrong.

He admits that he makes money from some of his content, but adds that he does not monetize all his posts and, unlike some people who identify themselves as “general African influencing”, maintains that his motivations are not purely financial.

“There are people in the space who use misinformation and misinformation to increase their scope and to raise engines,” he said.

There is a real interest in this content and the comments under the fake coup videos were often positive, probably reflecting the appetite for changing the entire continent.

But the summoning to the removal of the Coast D’Ivoire government has caused real anxiety for those living in cross -haired hair – all of which contributes to an increase in tension, since the state of West Africa is preparing for the vote in October.

Additional reporting by Nikolai Diece of the BBC