Months ago, I saw an interesting TikTok video. It featured the military leader of Burkina Faso in what was supposedly his presidential jet, being escorted by what was claimed to be Russian fighter jets on his way to meet President Putin.
Fortunately for me, I know an F-35 when I see one—and the jet fighters in the video were clearly F-35s. Immediately, I knew I was dealing with fake news. The video had been shared by a connection on Facebook. Many of my Facebook friends, who are sympathetic to the regime in Burkina Faso and its ties to Russia, shared the video with excitement.
The more interesting aspect of this story was the fact that many of those who shared the video had at least a university education. Some even implied that the jet fighters had escorted the junta leader all the way to Moscow. To them, this was proof that Putin was providing all the protection the junta leader needed and safeguarding the landlocked country he leads.
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Social media has become one of the most popular spaces for disinformation in Africa. Many viral disinformation and misinformation videos are spread across the continent. It has become the most effective tool for super-spreaders.
With internet access in Africa expanding rapidly, and even the least educated owning multiple social media accounts across various platforms, many people are innocently consuming tonnes of disinformation—including large numbers of the educated. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and many others (including this one) are used by agents of disinformation.
Measures adopted by the platforms to check fake news and other forms of disinformation are not always proactive enough to stop them before the damage is done.
While written posts are sometimes used to spread disinformation, videos have become the most effective tool in the hands of these agents. Often, these videos are downloaded and shared on other platforms before they can be removed from the original source. They are further circulated via other channels, including WhatsApp.
Today, despite what is being sold to Africans and the wider world about how Russia is keeping Burkina Faso safe, the country—along with other Sahel states—is saturated with terrorist attacks, making it the epicenter of global terrorism.
With the line between preventing the spread of disinformation and stifling free speech becoming increasingly thin, many authorities find themselves in a difficult position.
More needs to be done to protect the sanctity of the information that reaches the African public.
