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Mapping Disinformation in Africa�

Mark Duerksen Ph.D.

Research Associate, Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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Overview

Defining disinformation and why it matters
The data on disinformation in Africa
What the data shows:

The scale of the problem and where is affected
Who is behind these campaigns
Objectives and evolving tactics
Assessing the impact

Policy responses and work to be done

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What is Disinformation?

Misinformation:

False information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead

Disinformation:

The intentional dissemination of false information for the purpose of advancing a political or economic objective

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Does disinformation matter?

For a description of how disinformation has disfigured the information landscape in Libya, see:

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, “A Light in Libya’s Fog of Disinformation,” Spotlight, October 9, 2020.

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The data on detected and documented disinformation campaigns in Africa

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, “Mapping Disinformation in Africa,” Spotlight, April 26, 2022.

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Countries targeted

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Who is behind disinformation campaigns in Africa?

Russia: Campaigns targeting 18 countries

Domestic political or economic actors: 14 campaigns

Middle Eastern countries (UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia): 14 countries targeted

China: One ongoing campaign targeting at least 27 African countries

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Their objectives: why spread carefully designed and coordinated disinformation in African countries?

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, “Russian Disinformation Campaigns Target Africa: An Interview with Dr. Shelby Grossman,” Spotlight, February 18, 2020.

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Russia’s objectives in Africa

“Russia’s interest in Africa, triggered by Moscow’s isolation following its annexation of Crimea and ventures into eastern Ukraine, provides an opportunity to advance Putin’s vision of a post-liberal international world order. This takes the form of challenging democratic norms and the principles of a rules-based international system.” –Joseph Siegle, “Russia’s Strategic Goals in Africa,” Africa Center for Strategic Studies

“Disinformation has been a mainstay of Russian engagement in Africa—and efforts to undermine democratic processes. In addition to the campaigns supporting specific candidates, Russia has mounted a broader messaging effort disparaging democracy. The themes of this messaging revolve around democracy’s ineffectiveness and weakness, the futility of supporting any candidate, and the inherent trade-off between democracy and security—essentially an advertisement for strongman rule. By suggesting there are no real differences between political systems (and therefore no real advantages of democracy), the messaging encourages a passive fatalism among citizens to simply accept their elite patronage-based governments as no worse than the alternative.” –Joseph Siegle, “Russia in Africa: Undermining Democracy through Elite Capture,” Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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Domestic Disinformation Campaigns

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, "Domestic Disinformation on the Rise in Africa," Spotlight, October 6, 2021.

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Evolving tactics to achieve objectives avoid detection

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Impact of disinformation campaigns

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Policy responses and work to be done

Need for more fact-checking (but limits)
Research capacity in Africa
Social media company action (monitoring, removing disinformation)

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Contact Information

mark.m.duerksen.civ@ndu.edu

202-834-9435