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In May, Mafalda Marchioro was alerted by concerned friends abroad who inquired about her safety in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city.
Social media platforms were rife with claims of an unfolding coup. Dramatic visuals purportedly showing soldiers in the streets circulated widely, while AI-generated reports and presenter-led broadcasts garnered millions of views on YouTube.
“I was really worried, really concerned, I thought something had happened,” the management consultant stated to the BBC.
However, the claims circulating around May 19th were unfounded.
This incident represents the latest instance of false coup rumors spreading across West Africa, exacerbating tensions in a region that has witnessed multiple military takeovers in recent years.
Ivory Coast, one of the few Francophone nations maintaining strong ties with the West, is scheduled to hold presidential elections later this year.
Experts suggest that the country could increasingly become a target for such disinformation campaigns, with narratives aimed at undermining the electoral process.
This stems from the perception of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who is expected to seek a fourth term, as a pro-Western leader. Critics accuse him of aligning with nations that they claim are exploiting the continent.
Ivory Coast’s Communications Minister, Amadou Coulibaly, informed the BBC that the origin of the false information had been traced to “neighboring countries,” without providing further details.
The rumors appear to have originated from a dispute with Burkina Faso and have been amplified by a growing wave of self-proclaimed pan-Africanist influencers.
These influencers reject ties with the West, often express support for Russia, and generate conversations across the continent, reaching countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
They also promote figures like Burkina Faso’s military leader, Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a 2022 coup.
Traoré presents himself as a pan-Africanist and enjoys considerable support from young people across the continent, who view him as a leader standing up to Western influence.
Alex Vines, Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, suggests that these influencers are attempting to sow doubt about existing political leadership by spreading or amplifying coup rumors, thereby eroding public confidence in current institutions.
They are “finding an avid market of readers who want to see more assertive African leaders, who are developmental and bring peace and prosperity,” he told the BBC.
While analysts suggest that the Ivory Coast rumors share similarities with Russian-sponsored campaigns, there is no concrete evidence of Russia’s involvement.
The country has been linked to influence operations in French-speaking West African countries in the past. According to the US Department of Defense’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, disinformation networks connected to the Russian Wagner Group attempted to incite coup rumors in Niger in 2023.
Furthermore, there is no evidence suggesting the involvement of Burkinabé authorities in the Ivory Coast coup rumors, although individuals based there did amplify the claims.
Relations between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast deteriorated significantly over a year ago when Traoré accused his neighbor of tolerating militant groups on its territory and harboring “destabilizers” and dissidents who were openly critical of his junta.
In April, his security minister accused plotters based in Ivory Coast of planning to overthrow Traoré – an accusation that was widely amplified online.
The BBC Global Disinformation Unit analyzed mentions of the fake Ivorian coup reports on TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube. The earliest popular post identified originated on May 19th from Harouna Sawadogo, a pro-government activist in Burkina Faso who primarily creates content about Capt Traoré for his 200,000 TikTok followers.
He posted a selfie video in French and Mooré, a local language, urging soldiers in Ivory Coast to rise up and carry out a coup, encouraging viewers to share his post.
An hour later, he published a video featuring an image of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara superimposed over footage of rapid gunfire, falsely claiming that a coup was underway – the clip was actually from recent India-Pakistan tensions over Kashmir.
The following day, social media users outside Francophone West Africa seized upon the misinformation, disseminating it to an English-speaking audience in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, encouraging others to do the same.
When the BBC contacted Mr. Sawadogo weeks later via the Facebook page where he posts his live videos to inquire about his information sources, he provided no specifics but replied that he “prays to God Alassane [Ouattara] is brought down by a coup d’etat.”
Another individual who promoted the rumor in English was Turkish-born South African Mehmet Vefa Dag, who leads the Truth and Solidarity Movement, a small political organization in South Africa.
He posted several times across different platforms celebrating what he described as an “internal coup.”
Mr. Dag, who has faced criticism in the past for offensive and false statements against Jews and LGBTQ+ individuals, had already called for a coup in Ivory Coast on X on May 11th.
When contacted by the BBC on June 3rd, after it was clear that no coup had occurred, he insisted that it had.
“We are very proud of whoever did this coup to remove Ouattara. He had sold his soul to imperialists and wanted to destroy Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger,” he stated.
“As pan-Africanists we will never give them a chance ever again. We’re going to fight for our country. This is our continent.”
The most popular YouTube videos about the alleged turmoil in Ivory Coast, viewed millions of times, were shared by channels that often present themselves as dedicated to pan-Africanism or discussions about Burkina Faso’s junta leader.
According to Effiong Udo, an associate professor at Nigeria’s University of Uyo and president of the Pan-African Dialogue Institute, some “opportunistic influencers” are romanticizing military governments under the guise of pan-Africanism – a movement to promote unity and liberation on the continent – to gain popularity and monetize their content.
However, he told the BBC that this type of content appeals to young people disillusioned with politics, adding: “I can understand their overzealousness.”
Kenyan academic Karuti Kanyinga agrees that the social media content taps into a desire for accountable leaders who can transform Africa, avoid misusing resources, and strive to alleviate poverty.
“But the people trying to provide misinformation and disinformation about Traoré in Burkina Faso, or about a coup in Ivory Coast are not agents of pan-Africanism,” the research professor of development studies at the University of Nairobi’s Institute for Development Studies told the BBC.
There is no doubt that Traoré has many admirers, and for content creators, he represents the story of the moment – anything associated with him and his political worldview performs exceptionally well online.
Kenyan YouTuber Godfrey Otieno, who produces content on trending news, said he discovered this winning formula several months ago when he posted a video reporting the false claim that Capt Traoré had been shot by his best friend.
“That really trended,” he told the BBC – and since then, his content has almost exclusively focused on the Burkinabé leader.
He was among those who repeated the unverified information about Ivory Coast in May, and his video garnered over 200,000 views. He later apologized and acknowledged that he had been mistaken.
He admits to generating revenue from some of his content but asserts that he does not monetize all of his posts and, unlike some individuals identifying as “pan-African influencers,” maintains that his motivations are not solely financial.
“There are people in the space who are using misinformation and disinformation to grow their reach, and for engagement farming,” he said.
There is genuine interest in this content, and the comments under the fake coup videos were often positive, potentially reflecting a desire for change across the continent.
However, calls for the removal of Ivory Coast’s government caused genuine anxiety for those living in the country, contributing to increasing tensions as the West African state prepares for the vote in October.
Additional reporting by the BBC’s Nicolas Négoce
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
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