French and Russian trolls fight fake news war in Africa ahead of CAR election

Elections, where Faustin-Archange Touadéra is standing for re-elelction, have been targeted by foreign disinformation campaigns

Credit: AFP

French and Russian trolls have been caught fighting a disinformation war against Facebook users in the Central African Republic in an effort to spread propaganda ahead of elections this month.

Trolls from two separate influence operations, including individuals said to be linked to the French military, posed as locals using fake accounts. Others set up fake pages set up to look like news organisations and aid organisations, Facebook said.

The rival operations were part of efforts to exert influence over French-speaking Facebook users in the African nation in the lead up to a general election on December 27.

The French posts were sent mostly from France and designed to influence users in the Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries, and Mali. Facebook said it removed 84 accounts, six pages and nine groups linked to the French campaign, as well as 14 Instagram accounts.

Facebook said the French campaign appeared to be linked to the French military. The tech giant said: “Although the people behind it attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to individuals associated with French military.”

The French embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

France spent three years with thousands of troops in the Central African Republic between 2013 and 2016 and its soldiers continue to provide support to UN operations. Its President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, reached a fragile peace deal with rebels last year following a civil war that had raged since 2012. The nation is due to hold elections on December 27.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC | The low down

Facebook said it had also removed 63 accounts believed to be linked to the Russian state-backed Internet Research Agency, as well as pages and groups spreading propaganda against France. It follows an earlier influence operation the social network caught, stoking tensions in Ghana.

Russia has been manoeuvring to boost its standing in the Central African Republic. It has supported lifting restrictions on diamond exports, despite concerns over “blood diamonds”, and private mercenary armies operate in the region. 

Unusually, the two campaigns sought to engage with one another, trolling each others accounts, attacking their rivals and attempting to expose each other as fake news. One French poster said: “The Russian imperialists are a gangrene on Mali.”

Facebook said: “While we’ve seen influence operations target the same regions in the past, this was the first time our team found two campaigns — from France and Russia — actively engage with one another, including by befriending, commenting and criticising the opposing side for being fake.”

There have been other times when multiple foreign ops have targeted the same country.

But this is the first time we’ve had the chance to watch two foreign operations focused on the same country target *each other*. pic.twitter.com/8NSLa2ltFJ

— Ben Nimmo (@benimmo) December 15, 2020

Ben Nimmo, a disinformation expert, said: “There have been other times when multiple foreign ops have targeted the same country. But this is the first time we’ve had the chance to watch two foreign operations focused on the same country target each other.”

The social network said it had also removed a Russian network spreading pro-Russian stories in Syria, Libya and Sudan.