Before the ban, the social media post with the median engagement generated 272,000 likes and shares. After the ban, that dropped to 36,000 likes and shares. Yet 11 of his 89 statements after the ban attracted as many likes or shares as the median post before the ban.
Charges were laid at a Johannesburg police station in April, accusing South African president Cyril Ramaphosa of serious crimes from racketeering and high treason to theft and murder. We sifted through the 200-page affidavit and consulted experts to make sense of this strange tale. Buckle up! We fell down the White Spiritual Boy Trust rabbit hole
ANALYSIS: What Africa Check found down the White Spiritual Boy Trust rabbit hole
By researcher Naledi Mashishi
Africa Check doesn’t shy away from fact-checking the absurd. We’ve investigated claims that dead mermaids were found in a South African president’s swimming pool. And did a prophet really challenge a lion to a fight in Kruger National Park?
But I didn’t expect my fact-check into claims about South African President Cyril Ramaphosa being charged with racketeering and treason to turn very weird, very quickly.
A Facebook post, published in April 2021, includes nine photographs. The first is of two men standing outside the Sandton, Johannesburg branch of the South African Police Service. The second shows one of the men writing on a document inside a room. The rest of the photos appear to show pages of an affidavit.
On May 27, 2021, Facebook removed a network of assets using inauthentic profiles, pages, and groups to amplify pro-Russian content in Sudan. The content primarily focused on promoting an image of Russia as a friend of the Sudanese people, while simultaneously painting prominent leaders as pawns of the United States. The pages and profiles worked to spread positive stories about Russia, focusing specifically on aid packages sent by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and amplifying the benefits of the creation of a Russian military base in Port Sudan.
Facebook attributed the network to individuals previously involved in Prigozhin’s Internet Research Agency, which became notorious for its interference efforts during the 2016 US presidential election.
360/Open Summit: The world in motion
June 22 – 25, 2021
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) hosts 360/Open Summit: The World in Motion on June 22-25 online.
The DFRLab presents the third annual 360/Open Summit
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June 22 through June 25. We’re bringing together our team of experts across six continents with policy makers, journalists, civil society, and industry for four days of cutting-edge programming focused on human rights and democracy in a hyperconnected, online world.
The theme of this year’s 360/OS is “
The World in Motion.” The COVID-19 pandemic brought much of our daily lives to an abrupt halt, making the world’s most urgent challenges converge and accelerate. We are in the midst of a digital transformation and global re-alignment. How we work together to build resilience on a foundation of common purpose and a shared set of facts is more important than ever