With less than two weeks until Ivory Coast’s presidential election, a coordinated disinformation campaign by three neighbouring military regimes threatens to unsettle the country’s fragile political climate.
Authorities say online networks tied to Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have circulated false claims about President Alassane Ouattara’s death and a fabricated coup, seeking to stir unrest and confusion among voters.
The National Agency for Information System Security (ANSSI) revealed that several social media accounts, boasting tens of thousands of followers, attempted to create the illusion of an insurrection in Abidjan during peaceful opposition protests.
A Burkinabe group with more than 100,000 followers even alleged gunfire and mass killings in the city, spreading panic through falsehoods.
Ouattara, who firmly opposed the 2020–2022 coups that brought juntas to power in the three nations, has been a prime target since the Sahel states formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
In March, rumours of the 83-year-old leader’s death resurfaced, fuelled by fake France 24 screenshots and counterfeit Jeune Afrique graphics, all designed to question his fitness for office.
Analysts say the campaign’s sophistication points to organised coordination. The “Rapid Intervention Communication Battalion” (BIR-C), led by US-based Burkinabe influencer Ibrahima Maiga, reportedly amplifies junta propaganda to over a million followers.
Experts warn that the juntas use such tactics to discredit Ivory Coast’s democracy while deflecting attention from their own stalled transitions to civilian rule.
By tarnishing Ouattara’s image and sowing distrust in democratic processes, they seek to justify prolonged military control under the guise of regional instability.
Ivory Coast’s authorities have launched a monitoring system to track and counter the misinformation wave, with prosecutors already handling related legal cases as election day approaches.