On January 8, 2020, Facebook removed 32 pages, 220 user accounts, 59 groups, and 139 Instagram profiles working to promote Ugandan president and National Resistance Movement (NRM) leader Yoweri Museveni. The accounts of at least six government employees and two PR firms were involved in the network taken down by Facebook for using fake and duplicate accounts and misleading pages to target public debate ahead of the 14 January presidential election.
According to a Facebook statement, they removed the assets “for violating our policy against government interference, which is coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a government entity. This network originated in Uganda and targeted domestic audiences.”
By Tessa Knight for DFRLab• 12 January 2021
Supporters of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, otherwise known as Bobi Wine, run from tear gas fired by police during his presidential campaign in Kampala, Uganda 30 November 2020. The Ugandan Presidential Elections are due to take place on the 14 January 2021 and have so far been marred by violence with 45 supporters of Bobi Wine killed by security forces last week whilst protesting the arrest of Ssentamu during an election rally. EPA-EFE/STR
Facebook removes the dodgy network and attributes it to the Ugandan government after a DFRLab investigation, as Twitter also closes suspicious accounts.
A network of public relations firms, news organisations and inauthentic social media accounts engaged in a coordinated campaign to promote Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the country’s January 14 2021 presidential election. A DFRLab investigation of the network – which began as part of its ongoing analysis of pre-election activity –