Journalism in the age of fake news – DW – November 11, 2024

West African countries are particularly targeted by propaganda campaigns on social media. In the Sahel, disinformation campaigns on social networks have rapidly quadrupled in the last two years. This is proven by research and studies by the Africa Center for Strategic Studiesby Amnesty InternationalReporters Without Borders or the Nigerian online medium L’Evénement.

Most disinformation campaigns come from Russia

According to the Africa Center, almost 60 percent of campaigns are sponsored by foreign countries. They particularly often deliver an anti-Western discourse in favor of Russia: The country has flooded the Sahel region with 19 campaigns since 2018, primarily aimed at Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In particular, Russia wants to expand its influence after the ruling military juntas drove out Western forces.

“We know Russia’s attitude towards the EU and the USA,” says Bilal Taïrou, coordinator of the African Verification Alliance. “There is a wave of anti-Western sentiment, so Russia is taking advantage of this fertile ground.” The media battle intensified in 2020, shortly before the Wagner Group emerged in Mali. At the time, Facebook shut down three influential online networks on its platform, two of which were linked to Russia. “You could read messages like ‘Adieu France, welcome Russia’,” reports Dimitri Zufferey, journalist and member of the “All Eyes on Wagner” collective. And the country seems to be achieving its goals: “Using dishonorable means, Russia has managed to influence public opinion in its favor in countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso.”

Manipulation of public opinion

In addition to Russia, other state actors such as China and Qatar are also present in the coup states in the Sahel region. “There is a power rivalry between old partners and potential new partners who want to establish themselves permanently in these spaces,” says Harouna Simbo, a journalist and disinformation analyst in the Sahel.

The deliberately spread false information has a direct impact on the work of local journalists, who are already under strong political pressure. The military in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have taken measures to silence critical, “unpatriotic” media: According to Reporters Without Borders, hundreds of journalists in the Sahel region are being intimidated and threatened. There are reports of kidnappings and forced recruitment.

“Journalists have two options,” explains Malick Konaté, a journalist from Mali who now lives in exile. “Either censor yourself and follow the line or leave the country.” Anyone who tries to spread factual information will be treated as someone who wants to destabilize the country or is acting on behalf of the West.

Susceptibility to disinformation: “A geopolitical battlefield, including on the Internet”

Instead of the West, new partners are ready to present their point of view and bring it into play with power. “The region has become a geopolitical battlefield, including on the Internet,” says Hamadou Tidiane Sy. He is director of the Ejicom School of Journalism, Internet and Communication Professions in Senegal’s capital Dakar and founder of the medium Ouestaf.com.

Some campaigns are very complex and sophisticated, others less so and therefore easier to understand. “There are people who act out of loyalty or affection because they believe that siding with Russia or China could free some African countries from the yoke of the former colonial powers.” But on the other hand, you shouldn’t fool yourself. Other states would do exactly the same thing to win allies or discredit others.

A big problem: Information spreads extremely quickly on social media. “It is very easy to manipulate the masses, who unfortunately are sometimes ignorant,” says Sy. It is therefore extremely important to train journalists in fact checking. So that they can recognize errors and not spread them further.

“We have to sensitize citizens and teach media literacy”

As part of the Ouestaf.com news channel, Sy and his partners organize, among other things, public debates on disinformation issues or have partner radio stations disseminate information on this topic. “We have to sensitize citizens and teach media literacy,” says the university director. The aim must be to show people that there are serious journalists who work with serious information.

But Sy also knows: “Just because there are pacifists doesn’t mean there aren’t weapons. I believe it is a scourge that will remain for a while.” If the authorities want to tackle this problem, they also need to make access to public information easier, he says. And yet he remains a realist: “Sometimes it is the politicians themselves who need the illiterate masses in order to be able to better manipulate them and achieve their political goals.”

A fact check can even save lives

Adnan Sidibé from Burkina Faso knows that fact checks are becoming increasingly important. He works for the platform Fasocheck.org, which fights against disinformation in the Sahel region and is a project partner of DW. In October, Sidibé was named Best Professional Fact Checker on the African Continent 2024 at the Africa Fact Summit in Ghana.

A fact check makes sense for practically all topics in which there is public interest and which directly affect the population. Sidibé gives an example from the field of health: Some “pseudo-medicines,” as he calls them, advertised on social networks an “allegedly magical potion” for which certain leaves are boiled and which is supposed to cure illnesses. However, there is no solid evidence or studies for this. According to the fact checker, such content poses a real threat to public health. Dangerous side effects such as kidney failure have occurred.

Various dubious treatment methods are also being circulated on social networks for Covid-19. “Some people didn’t make it out alive,” says Adnan Sidibé.