Black Hats find fertile ground in Africa

The destructive effects of fake news and disinformation have been in the news again recently, with examples of how the internet and social media can be weaponised to deliberately create harm.

Whether it is the hounding of royals and other celebrities, or the calculated acts of rogue States, there can now be no doubt the internet, once hailed as the new dawn of instant communication, bringing us all closer together, has a dark side being ruthlessly exploited by those with no other desire than to create confusion and mischief that serves their own ends.

There are all too many examples of how it can be commanded by those whose morals and ethics are entirely absent, and worse still, how they can find an audience only too willing to consume the evils they promulgate.

So it is more with sadness than anger I find another report on the subject, this from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, based within the United States Defence Department.

Researchers have found that disinformation campaigns seeking to manipulate African information systems have increased fourfold in just two years, mostly designed to destabilise existing Governments, and often leading to deadly violence, military coups and the diminution of freedoms and democracy.

Africa is the last continent to fully embrace the internet and its social media offshoots — it also seems to be the continent where black-hat hackers can wield their evil influence most effectively.

They feed off instability, and many African regimes are vulnerable in this regard. The Africa Centre says this has had “real-world consequences for diminishing Africans’ rights, freedoms and security”.

It points the finger at Russia “as the primary purveyor of disinformation on the continent, sponsoring 80 documented campaigns, targeting more than 22 countries”. It believes fake pages and posts number in the tens of thousands.

Mostly targeted are those countries with fragile or failing democracies, encouraging authoritarian or military rule. 

While Russia leads the pack, other nations, including China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, are also active, according to the centre. There are also any numbers of so-called non-State actors.

One highlighted in the report, Team Jorge, operating out of Israel, has reportedly implemented disinformation campaigns to disrupt more than 20 African election campaigns since 2015.

Domestic groups, all with their particular agendas, complete the sorry picture.

While for many, Africa’s situation seems far removed from the institutions and protections that exists in the West, no one is immune, especially when a survey finds that 13 per cent of Americans still believe the Apollo Moon landings are a hoax.

From that kind of credulous base, it is easy to see how 30 per cent of the US population have been persuaded the 2020 Biden Presidential win was rigged, especially when the loser insists it is the case.

What we are seeing is a direct and persistent assault on Western-style democracies, using the very institutions that are cherished — free speech, freedom of the press — to undermine Governments and question the rule of law.

Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the European democracies may be far removed from the situation in many African countries, but as the revelation of mass hacking attempting to compromise Western electoral systems demonstrates, these problems can be ignored at our peril.

Yes, it can happen here.