Tessa Knight
Tessa Knight is a research associate for the Sub-Saharan Africa region at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in South Africa. Tessa worked as a news journalist for two South African media companies before joining the DFRLab where she discovered her passion for tracking disinformation and the spread of digital propaganda on the African continent.
As a research associate for DFRLab’s sub-Saharan African research unit, Tessa is committed to increasing awareness around digital propaganda, and working with other researchers, journalists and policy-makers to come up with uniquely African solutions to both local and international disinformation targeting the continent.
December 2021
Influential Ethiopian social media accounts stoke violence along ethnic lines
Proliferation of hate speech on social media has the capacity to cause real-world harm amidst an increasingly violent civil war.
October 2021
Sudanese Facebook network promoting paramilitary group removed month before coup
Inauthentic FB assets linked to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces operated for years; some admins based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
October 2021
Geolocated footage capture chaotic scenes following Sudan military coup
Sudanese citizens protest military coup and dissolution of transitional government following arrest of civilian leadership
