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Russia covertly targeted Africans with AI-generated posts: France

By AFP
June 13, 2025
A woman holds her national flag and the Russian flag as people gather to show their support to Burkina Fasos new military leader Ibrahim Traore and demand the departure of the French ambassador at the Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 20, 2023. —Reuters
A woman holds her national flag and the Russian flag as people gather to show their support to Burkina Faso's new military leader Ibrahim Traore and demand the departure of the French ambassador at the Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 20, 2023. —Reuters

PARIS: A clandestine pro-Russian online operation targeted French speakers in Africa with “deceptive” AI-generated posts in a campaign likely directed by Moscow, a French government agency said on Thursday. Moscow has sought to expand its influence in Africa in recent years, including in former French colonies, with campaigns using grass-roots activists and social media. The Wagner group played a key role but Moscow has apparently moved to centralise control of information operations since the group was disbanded and reorganised following the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a 2023 plane crash.