Facebook has exposed a curious battle for influence in Africa, with former colonial power France and former superpower Russia using fake accounts to engage, criticise and even befriend each other online. France, the former colonial power in large parts of Africa, has thousands of troops deployed in the region to fight jihadists. It involved 84 Facebook accounts, six pages, nine groups and 14 Instagram accounts that violated policy against "coordinated inauthentic behavior". In disrupting the two Russian networks, the social network removed 274 Facebook accounts and 18 Instagram accounts, along with an array of groups and pages. He was also sanctioned by Washington, which accused him of meddling in the 2016 presidential election, in particular through his troll factory.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 16, 2020 17:15 UTC