Ivory Coast warns citizens over surge in election disinformation

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Authorities in Ivory Coast have put up billboards warning of the scourge of fake news ahead of the country’s election, part of a bid to counter what they have said is a surge in disinformation emanating partly from nearby countries run by Russia-aligned military juntas.

Ivory Coast’s communication ministry put up the billboards — with the slogan “Fake news divides, truth unites” — ahead of polls next week at which 83-year-old President Alassane Ouattara, who has been in power since 2011, is running for a controversial fourth term.

Authorities have also visited schools to warn about disinformation in recent weeks ahead of the polls, which have been beset by tension after prominent opposition leaders, including former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam, were excluded from the electoral register.

It comes during a year in which Ivory Coast has been targeted by a flood of misinformation. Authorities have warned that social media accounts originating in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have been disseminating fake stories they say are aimed at sowing discord.

The National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI), Ivory Coast’s cyber security agency, in August accused accounts with tens of thousands of followers from those countries of trying to “incite disorder” in the wake of Thiam and other politicians’ exclusion from the polls.

Authorities have also previously accused accounts “identified as having links to Burkina Faso and its supporters” of circulating fake stories about Ouattara’s death and purported coups in Ivory Coast.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are run by military juntas who seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023 and promised to improve security in the insurgency-blighted countries. They withdrew from the west African regional bloc Ecowas, expelled French troops and drew closer with Russia.

Ouattara, who opposed the coups and has spoken out against Russian involvement in the region, is widely disliked by supporters of the juntas.

Relations between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso — led by the 37-year-old Ibrahim Traoré, whose supporters often spread fake online stories of his achievements — have also deteriorated over the past year.

Burkina Faso withdrew its diplomatic staff from Ivory Coast last year and accused the country of carrying out an “assassination” of a Burkinabe activist who died in Ivorian custody this year.

Two European diplomats based in the region told the Financial Times that troll farms in Burkina Faso targeted Ouattara because he is seen as being too cosy with the west, particularly former colonial power France.

The diplomats said social media accounts with large followings have also seized on grievances with France and some of the discontent in Ivory Coast to peddle false stories and advance pro-Russian talking points.

Will Brown, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations who has researched the disinformation campaigns, said both Russia and the Sahelian juntas would benefit from a change in power in Ivory Coast.

“They clearly see Ouattara as an obstacle to their influence and would prefer to not have him lead the government,” he said.