An investigation by Anthropic, relayed by Global Voices, has uncovered a network of nearly 70 fake news websites addressing audiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the investigation, these sites published at least 318 articles covering the fighting in the east of the country, tensions with Rwanda, and the disputed mineral wealth. Journalists in the region say the findings show the gap between the speed at which this content is produced and their ability to debunk it.
Who is behind the network
According to Global Voices, the operation relied on three complementary elements: websites disguised as genuine news outlets, accounts on X that amplified the reach of their material, and AI models that wrote the texts and then adapted them to suit different audiences. Drawing on a report by LKMY Company, Global Voices attributes the running of the campaign to a French advertising agency whose clients have clear interests in the Congolese-Rwandan dispute. However, Anthropic found no evidence of direct involvement by any government.
An impact beyond the digital sphere
Journalist Joal Kasisu, who monitors disinformation narratives, believes that fake news about the relationship between the two countries has damaged the DR Congo's standing diplomatically and with public opinion, and has stoked anti-Rwandan sentiment. By contrast, Hubab Watukalusu, head of training and research at Soma Media Lab in Kinshasa, declines to assert a direct causal link, limiting himself to pointing to tangible consequences, including measures targeting universities in areas controlled by the Congo River Alliance and the M23 movement, and restrictions imposed by Burundi on people arriving from those areas. On the other side of the border, a Rwandan journalist identified by the platform under the pseudonym Manzi says that pro-DR Congo disinformation is also widespread in his country.
Journalists did not grasp the full scale of the operation
Watukalusu acknowledges that journalists in the country only understood the full scope of the operation after it was made public, and regards this as evidence of how hard it is to keep pace with campaigns that pump out huge volumes of persuasive material in a short time. He adds that difficult access to electricity, expensive and unstable internet, and rising living costs weigh heavily on those working in the profession. Kasisu, for his part, points out that most of the available analysis tools are not free. The platform explains that what an AI-backed operation can accomplish in a few days, namely 318 articles, can take weeks to verify through contacting the parties involved and examining images and sources.
Countering disinformation and press freedom
Watukalusu warns that the charge of spreading false news has itself been used in prosecutions against journalists, citing the case of Stanis Bujakera, who was arrested in September 2023 and convicted in March 2024 on a charge of this kind. He believes the solution lies in regulatory bodies that are genuinely independent and operate transparently, so that policies to counter disinformation do not turn into a means of silencing voices.
On the initiatives front, Watukalusu mentions Kinshasa News Lab, a newly established space for dialogue between fact-checkers and media professionals. Kasisu says that joint work with the IFCN and Meta, and reporting propaganda accounts and trolls, have contributed significantly to curbing false narratives, pointing to tools that do not require costly licences, such as InVID We Verify, Google Image Search, Yandex, Hive Moderation and Zero GPT.
Sources
- Global Voices الأصوات العالمية (CC BY 3.0)
