🇨🇮 Fake Coup Rumours Shake Ivory Coast Amid Disinformation Surge
In May, Mafalda Marchioro woke up to alarming messages from friends abroad asking if she was safe in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast. Social media was ablaze with posts claiming a military coup was underway. Videos of soldiers patrolling the streets and AI-generated news clips quickly went viral, racking up millions of views on platforms like YouTube.
“I was really worried, really concerned. I thought something had happened,” the management consultant told the BBC.
But there had been no coup. The viral posts were part of a growing trend of disinformation targeting politically sensitive West African states—particularly those preparing for key elections.
Ivory Coast, one of the few French-speaking countries still closely aligned with the West, is due to hold presidential elections later this year. With President Alassane Ouattarra expected to seek a controversial fourth term, analysts believe the country is becoming an increased target for destabilizing fake narratives.
A Regional Rift and Digital Propaganda
Ivorian Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly said the false coup rumours were traced to “neighbouring countries,” though he did not specify which. Tensions between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso have escalated since Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Capt Ibrahim Traoré, accused his southern neighbour of hosting dissidents and “destabilisers.”
Pan-Africanist influencers, particularly those sympathetic to Traoré, are believed to be fuelling the fake news. These social media personalities often reject ties with the West, champion Russian partnerships, and have gained huge followings across Africa, particularly among youth in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
One of the earliest viral posts about the fake coup came from Harouna Sawadogo, a Burkinabè content creator with over 200,000 TikTok followers, known for supporting Traoré and criticising pro-Western African leaders.
Coup Rumours as a Weapon
“These influencers are attempting to erode public confidence in institutions by spreading or amplifying coup rumours,” said Alex Vines of the UK-based Chatham House think tank.
The goal, analysts believe, is to sow distrust in democratic processes, especially in countries viewed as too aligned with Western governments or policies.
While there's no direct evidence linking Russia to the recent disinformation campaign, the strategy bears similarities to known influence operations by the Wagner Group and other Russian actors across Francophone Africa.
In 2023, the US Defense Department said Wagner-linked networks were behind rumours of a coup in Niger—a country that did in fact experience a real coup just months later.
Despite the rapid spread of the fake coup narrative in Ivory Coast, authorities quickly quelled the rumours, but concerns remain that such disinformation could undermine the country’s fragile political stability as elections approach.