Russian Linked Operations in Africa

Entities tied to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who runs the Internet Research Agency, have been running social media campaigns across multiple countries in Africa including Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most of these campaigns began between 2018 and 2019. The operation franchised parts of the operation to local actors with native language skills and knowledge of the local culture.

Actors used public prominent social media such as Twitter and Facebook as well as potentially encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. The operation used tools designed to develop a close relationship with the audience, including utilizing Facebook Live videos and Google Forms for feedback. The campaign developed false news websites and accounts that promoted content they created.

The campaign had different objectives and utilized varied tactics in different countries. In 2019 the Stanford Internet Cyber Policy Center analyzed seven Instagram accounts and 73 Facebook Pages and found that these accounts were highly active and 1.72 million accounts liked the Facebook Pages.

In 2019 Facebook suspended numerous accounts linked to this operation, however the operation adapted and continued.

On December 15th 2020 Facebook announced that it had taken down three separate networks targeting communities in Africa. The first was a Prigozhin linked group consisting of 126 Pages, 16 Groups, 211 profiles, and 17 Instagram accounts linked to individuals with past histories at the Internet Research Agency. This operation had Russian operators as well as franchised operators in Libya, Egypt, Sudan, and Syria and it targeted Libya, Sudan, and Syria. The second operation was also linked to Prigozhin but operated the Central African Republic. The Third was a French operation. The interaction between the French and Russian groups is covered in French and Russian Trolling in Africa.