Africa

A man walks past a graffiti of Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine in Kampala, Uganda, January 17, 2021. (Source: REUTERS/Baz Ratner)

Mon, Feb 22, 2021

Prominent Ugandan news websites implicated in government-aligned social media campaign

Websites implicated in Facebook takedown that involved government employees engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior.

by Tessa Knight, Alyssa Kann

Africa Disinformation
Banner: Supporters of Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement party drive around Kampala on boda bodas (motorcycles) following the announcement that Yoweri Museveni has won the sixth term as president. Uganda’s elections, on January 14, 2021, were the most tense in decades. (Photo by Sally Hayden / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)

Wed, Feb 10, 2021

Facebook removes inauthentic assets linked to Ugandan government

Facebook removed content engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior six days before Uganda’s presidential election.

by Tessa Knight

Africa Brigading
In this photo from the 2016 Ugandan presidential election, Uganda’s President and the presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni of the ruling party National Resistance Movement (NRM) waves to his supporters as he arrives at a campaign rally in Entebbe, Uganda, February 10, 2016. (Source: REUTERS/James Akena TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Mon, Jan 11, 2021

Social media disinformation campaign targets Ugandan presidential election

Facebook takes down pro-government network after investigation inspired by DFRLab research; Twitter also removes suspicious accounts.

by Tessa Knight

Africa Business
BANNER: Ugandan presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, reacts from inside a police van, in Luuka district, Uganda, November 18, 2020. (Source: REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa)

Wed, Dec 9, 2020

Pro-government accounts use old images to depict Ugandan protesters as hooligans

Twitter campaign ensured anti-protester hashtag trended in Uganda after protests broke out following arrest of a presidential candidate

by Tessa Knight

Africa Brigading