Facebook Moves to Curb Russian Interference in African Politics

This week’s takedown of Facebook and Instagram accounts that were used to interfere with African political affairs has provided new insight into the extent to which a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is engaged in the continent, analysts say.Facebook announced Wednesday that, after a weeks-long investigation, it was FILE – Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin gestures on the sidelines of a meeting at the Konstantin palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 9, 2016. “We believe that this is consistent with Russian commercial-linked activities, and to some extent with Russian state political interests as well,” Grossman told VOA in an interview this week.Prigozhin, commonly called “Putin’s chef” in Russia media, was A screenshot shows a Facebook page found to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign. (Courtesy – Stanford Internet Observatory researchers)For example, in Mozambique, sites supported Frelimo, the country’s longtime ruling party, in advance of elections.  In Sudan, Facebook pages initially supported former dictator Omar al-Bashir and then switched to the Transitional Military Council following his ouster.In Libya, the pages supported both rogue General Khalifa Haftar and his potential political rival, Saif al-Islam, son of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, killed in 2011 during Arab Spring uprisings. “These pages were interesting in part because many of them posted a lot of Moammar Gadhafi nostalgia content,” Grossman said. “So trying to get Libyans to think about the positive parts of living under Gadhafi’s rule and then throwing in posts that were supportive of his son.”Often the pages are linked to activity conducted by the Wagner Group, Prigozhin’s military arm, which supplies contractors in several African countries. Wagner is A screenshot shows a Facebook post found to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Pictured is Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan autocrat Moammar Gadhafi. (Courtesy – Stanford Internet Observatory researchers)“Russia is willing to do business with a lot of unsavory actors,” he told VOA. “It is willing to do business with regimes that are seeking to hold onto power through unconstitutional methods. It is willing to do business with military governments, governments that Western democracies might not be so quick to embrace. Russia sees itself as having an advantage in going after those markets.”Hudson said Russia’s aim is to make its presence felt in the same way it did during the Cold War, but with a much smaller investment.“Russia doesn’t have the political clout, it doesn’t have the ideological clout and it certainly doesn’t have the financial backing to play the role that it played during the Cold War, where it was a heavy investor in development projects in Africa — where ideologically it was bringing African leaders to study the communist model,” he said.The country believes cyber interference in the affairs of other countries gives it the most bang for its buck, according to Hudson.“So how does it have its influence felt? Well, it can do it through things like social media and online influence, which is a relatively low-cost way to have the impact on the world stage that they’re looking to have,” he said. “Anything that they can do to undermine the free press, democratic institutions and to sow doubt in the minds of those of populations, I think, probably plays into their broader vision.” 
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