Facebook has identified fake profiles linked to France and Russia. This is the first time that Paris has been openly singled out for this type of practice.
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The revelation, on December 15, by Facebook, the identification of false profiles engaged on behalf of Russia and France in “information war” in several African countries, aroused many emotions. Particularly in Chad, where the government announced Thursday, December 17, that it had taken legal action and called on “all African countries victims of these acts” to consider “a joint framework”, to better protect themselves against these “new forms of ‘attack on their interests “.
At this stage, these reactions appear more as a political necessity than as the guarantee of a real uproar of combat. However, they come to bring water to the mill of detractors of France in Africa, offering the passage of credit to information which the military staff and French diplomacy would have done well. And this, while Paris is funding journalism training in Africa, and is struggling to find a way out for operation “Barkhane” in the neighboring Sahel, in particular because of Russian inclinations in the region.
These Facebook revelations – which are based on a report by Graphika, an agency specializing in social media analysis – highlight Relatively limited, if not hesitant, French “information warfare” maneuvers. They would have started in spring 2018 and have accelerated since January 2020. But this is the first time that Paris has been openly singled out for this type of practice.
Jihadist counter-speech
Facebook has thus identified the misuse, “by individuals associated with French soldiers”, of around 80 accounts, six pages – including a fake anti-fake news forum – nine groups, 14 Instagram accounts, two YouTube channels and around 20 Twitter profiles. They covered news ranging from the Central African Republic to Niger, via Burkina Faso and Chad. These accounts had very limited influence, often with less than 150 followers and less than twenty “likes” or “shares” per information. Or an “echo that did not go beyond their own room”, by Facebook’s own admission.
In the Central African Republic, the accounts considered to be working for France seem to have also had all “red lines” for ” electoral matters “. While the country is in the grip of high tensions ahead of general elections to be held on December 27, no publication on the current campaign or its candidates has been identified. These accounts were content, according to Facebook, to target “exclusively” Russian interference in the Central African Republic, openly supported by Moscow for several years, in particular through the sending of mercenaries linked to the very controversial Wagner company.
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